


Piece of Cake

by MissMadHatter4life



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Stuffing, Weight Gain, Weight Gain Kink, Young Nick Wilde, some mature content but not much, weight gain with plot, young finnick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:14:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 37,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24111880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMadHatter4life/pseuds/MissMadHatter4life
Summary: Updated: Nov 11th 2020!!! Judy and Nick are handed a new case involving serial burglaries amid rumors of their upcoming engagement and wedding plans. But there is something else weighing on Judy's mind: Nick's large appetite and his growing waistline.
Relationships: Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde
Comments: 35
Kudos: 132





	1. Yet

**Author's Note:**

> This is a wg themed fanfic, which means it will include weight gain, stuffing, and other wg related themes throughout. It is not, however, solely a WG fic. If this subject matter offends you, however, please don't read.

The traffic out of Zootopia city center was light, with little to no stopping whatsoever. Normally, that would have been a Godsend for Judy. She loathed traffic. If she had to pick her least favorite thing about the multi-faceted city, traffic wouldn't be the first on her list, but it certainly would be up there. She was used to open air country roads; not gut to butt traffic that inched along at a sloth's pace. However, tonight, she wanted it. She had prayed for it, begged for it, pleaded with every deity known to animal kind for an accident (non-fatal, of course) to hold them up. She wanted a high speed chase she could join by slapping her siren onto the tip top of her beaten up little truck. She wanted it something awful. She had even lurked around the dispatch front desk, with Clawhauser, listening to his various dispatches. She had hoped for traffic, or to be conveniently located whenever a crime was being committed so she go hop right out the door.   
  
There was no traffic. There was no accident. There was no high speed chase, or urgent case to solve, or even an unnecessarily long conversation about Gazelle with Clawhauser. There was just the clock and it's ever ticking minute hand. She had watched the clock turn to six and she had groaned into her hands when Clawhauser purred that it was time for her to gooooooo (insert kissy face and giggles). Judy had begrudgingly clocked out for the day and stood by the front desk, waiting for the inevitable moment when the entire police force joined together to embarrass her.   
  
At six o five, they had done just that. She noticed them gathering, grinning, with Clawhauser being the worst offender. They just waited for the right moment. They waited for him. Judy waited with him, her ears slicked back, and her arms crossed. She had wanted to get this over with and he was intent on making it drag out.  
  
He had come wandering in from a day out in Tundratown on foot patrol with Officer McHorn. He was dressed in his officer's uniform, wearing reflector shades, and drinking a latte that she knew he had swiped from the cafe just a block away. He hadn't driven up in a patrol car; he didn't have one, seeing how he didn't drive himself. He had walked; probably because he usually got booted out of his patrol partner's car for being a sly little thing with a big mouth. He liked to make a fuss and a muss and a mess and he always got a latte extra foam for the trouble. As he strolled in, he sipped his latte to the last drop, tossed it over his head into the trash, and leaned against the front desk about three inches from Judy's round hip. She glanced him up and down with a scowl.  
  
Four foot nothing and all smiles, her boyfriend, Nicholas P. Wilde, looked like he did every time she had seen him since the very first moment they met. Calm and collected, undisturbed by the leering police force that waited with baited breath. Nick titled his shades up, winked at her, and then dropped his shades back down while Judy suddenly struggled for air. She had blushed and her nose had twitched while Nick tapped the front desk.  
  
"Clock me out for the day, won't ya?" Nick asked a widely smiling Clawhauser.   
  
Clawhauser happily complied, saying, "Oooooh, is it time for your _date_?"   
  
"Date? What date?" Nick replied, in an increasingly shocked voice. Then, he laughed, and nudged Judy with his hip, "Who said anything about a date?"   
  
"Stop it, Nick," Judy grumbled.   
  
But the domino effect had exploded just from one of them uttering the word 'date'. All the animals burst into roaring approval, stomping massive feet and hooting in booming bellows. The noise made Judy jump and Nick grin. Clawhauser had squealed and grabbed a bright pink box from below the desk. It had a white ribbon tied tightly around it and was labeled for 'The Newlyweds'.   
  
"Here! I couldn't resist!" Clawhauser exclaimed as he shoved the box into Nick's hands. Clawhauser then sighed and slumped against the desk, his fat rolls squishing dramatically. Dreamily, he said, "Young love is so beautiful."   
  
"We're not married!" Judy protested as she tried to take the box from Nick. His ears dropped back and he quickly sidestepped her, holding the box up over his head.   
  
"Doesn't mean we can't accept gifts."   
  
"Nick-"   
  
"I can't wait to see that rock when you kids get back!" Clawhauser interrupted loudly, his voice drowning out their bickering. Nick froze, with the box held over his head with both hands and Judy went rigid, planted firmly against him, reaching for it. Both of them had laughed it off; him more casually than her choked sound.   
  
And that was exactly why Judy had hoped and prayed for traffic. That sentiment had plagued her for the past couple of weeks, with officers pointing to their ring fingers or joking about what fox/bunny hybrids would look like or asking Nick if he'd gotten enough of a winter bonus to pay for 'you know'. Radio calls came in addressed for officers Wilde and Wilde, oops I mean Wilde and Hopps. Clawhauser had repeatedly given her different addresses for dispatches, all of which turned out to be cake shoppes, bridal boutiques, or venues specializing in weddings. Even Chief Bogo had inquired about which of them would be needing the paperwork for the honeymoon leave request.   
  
But it hadn't stopped at the office. Finnick had sent Nick various phone calls, scream laughing about him being a collared fat house fox now. Family members she hadn't heard from in years were asking for dates and locations and if she was really marrying a fox. An aunt from her father's side had wanted to know what kind of fox and if those kinds were the kind that had large litters. Fru Fru had sent dozens of packages, detailing who she had dealt with for her wedding. Mr. Big offered her his personal space for the venue. Mrs. Ottertin had contacted her, assuring her that her husband would be more than happy to supply the flowers whenever the day came. Even her crazy neighbors had shouted that they couldn't wait for the upcoming wedding planning.   
  
The worst, by far, though, were her parents. Judy's mother couldn't stop talking about how her precious tryer was finally ready for the joys of motherhood. Her father was a nervous wreck and constantly asked if she was sure about this. They called twice a day, or more, usually more, always more, to talk about her future as a wife and mother. The calls ranged from happy short conversations to long winded speeches about the importance of this! and that! quality to make a relationship last. It had gone on for weeks until that day, when she had received only one phone call telling her that several new people were coming to the family dinner that night.   
  
Judy gritted her teeth at the thought as she took a turn hard out of the city limits. Nick glanced her way as he undid the ribbon to the Big Pig's Bakery box Clawhauser had given them.   
  
"You haven't even proposed yet," Judy said, her voice shattering the silence of the car ride filled with her glaring over the steering wheel.   
  
"I haven't?" Nick answered, widening his eyes, "But the cake says 'Happy Anniversary Newlyweds!"   
  
He tilted the pink box towards her so she could see the white frosted, multi-layered cake with blue lettering reading exactly what he said. Newlyweds. The word made Judy shudder and she pushed the box back into Nick's chest. He snickered, leaning backwards and grinning at her twitchy nose and panicked eyes.  
  
"It's just our one year," Judy said with a hard swallow, "Why is everyone making sure a big deal about this? We've been dating for a year. We're not getting married and pregnant and leaving the force."  
  
"But, we _could_ ," Nick said as he scooped a chunk of cake out with his bare hands. He shoved it into his mouth, his cheeks swelling slightly, and frosting smearing over his fingers. He sucked on them, moaning slightly with pleasure, as she gave him a frustrated sideways glance.  
  
"But we're not."   
  
"Well, I did get that bon-"   
  
Judy slammed her foot down onto the brake and the entire car jerked forward several feet. Nick smashed into the dashboard, narrowly avoiding crushing the cake. He started to shout about her giving him whiplash when Judy grabbed the front of his shirt, yanking him over so that they were eye level.  
  
"If you propose to me in front of my entire family tonight, I swear I'll say no. Don't you _dare_ do that," she snarled out, eyes narrowed and voice a deep level of stern. Nick chuckled lightly and that made Judy grip tighter, "I mean it, Nick."   
  
"But it'd be so special."   
  
"Nick-"   
  
"Oh, relax, Carrots. I'm not going to propose tonight," Nick assured her, prying her hands off his shirt. She felt the light dampness from him having sucked off the frosting and she flushed, letting go and grabbing the steering wheel. Nick broke off another piece of the chocolate and white cake and crammed it into his mouth. He chewed, shrugged, swallowed, and said, "I haven't even asked your dad for permission."   
  
"You didn't ask permission to date me."   
  
"I do believe, Bunny, that us dating was _your_ call."   
  
Judy felt her face grow immensely warm when he mentioned it, which only made him grin as his eyes went half lidded and coy. She remembered that. That horrible moment when she slipped up and introduced Nick as her boyfriend. Her boy friend, friend that was a boy, urgh boyfriend, yes boyfriend, he was her boyfriend, to be specific. She hadn't meant to use that word, because they weren't technically dating. Judy hadn't even actually talked about her feelings with Nick yet. She had meant to ask him if he felt the same draw that she felt whenever they were on investigations, lying hip to hip, watching in a silence filled with only their heartbeats. She had meant to ask his permission to call him something other than her friend, her buddy, her pal. She had privately considered him her boyfriend from the moment he sat down next to her in the same chair, his first day on the job, dressed all nice and neat in blue. But, she hadn't said anything, because she intended to wait six months and find out what his thoughts were. Then, out of nowhere, they had been together for two weeks, and she was introducing him to Gideon Grey at a random meeting, and she said boyfriend.  
  
Nick, the sly fox, had extended his hand to Gideon and confidently said 'I'm her boyfriend, Nick Wilde' with the stupidest, ugliest, foxiest smile plastered on his face. They'd been dating from that moment on. It had been her call and he had answered exactly how she hoped he might.   
  
Still, a year later, Judy didn't like to be reminded about it. She flustered and pushed her foot down on the gas. The car lurched forward, causing Nick to slam backwards into his seat. He made a laughing off collar comment about her driving as he broke off a third piece of cake. Judy gave him a sideways glance.   
  
"Stop eating. You know Mom's gonna insist you have seconds and you'll spoil your appetite," Judy breathlessly said, her heart beating furiously inside her chest. She swallowed as he gave her a strange expression, his mouth full.   
  
"Me? Lose my appetite?" he asked, his words blurred by the cake.   
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Aw, does Officer Toot Toot want some? Is she afraid I'll eat all the nummy cake and leave her none?" Nick teased as he jiggled the cake box at her.   
  
"Oh, stop it."   
  
"I've only had a little bit," Nick said as he shut the box anyways. He put it to the side as he sucked the last touch of frosting from his claws, "I'm sick of carrot cake. Every time we go to your parents', they have carrot cake."   
  
"Gee, I can't imagine why."  
  
"Well, I'm sick of it."   
  
"Calm down, Nicky," Judy mumbled as she turned off onto the dirt road that lead towards Bunny Burrow, "Gideon's coming, so I'm sure he'll bring some of your favorite. Blueberry pie."   
  
"Gideon? The fox?" Nick repeated, his ears twitching slightly, "What's he coming for? I thought it was just family."   
  
"Gideon is family."   
  
"You know, you've never told me _how_ that is."  
  
"Let's not get into that right now. We need to think of a game plan."   
  
Nick laughed and said, "A game plan for what?"   
  
"The proposal," Judy absentmindedly said, as she turned into the small farmer town that was her childhood home. Familiar buildings loomed overhead, peering into their car and exploring her bare fingers and his empty pockets. She shuddered again and glanced at where Nick was yawning and rolling his eyes. She ignored both as she found the road leading to her parents' burrow.   
  
"I thought I wasn't proposing."   
  
"You're not. We need to think of a reason."   
  
"I haven't asked your father," Nick said nonchalantly as the Hopps farmhouse rolled so suddenly into view. He unbuckled his seat belt before Judy had even registered that she needed to stop. When she hit the brakes, however, Nick was prepared, and braced against the dashboard. Then, effortlessly, he was out of the car, waving to the bunnies on the porch, and he winked at her, "Yet."  
  
In a flash, Nick was gone, and Judy was left in the pick-up truck with a half eaten wedding cake and the word 'yet' surrounding her.   
  
  
The Hopps farmhouse was an enormous, though simple structure that was built to hold scores of little bunny babies and whatever family happened to be visiting. It had shorter ceilings, numerous connected rooms, thousands of tiny doors to tiny rooms, and a large space in the center for gatherings. Everything was warm wood, simple farmer decoration, family portraits crammed with faces, and patchwork quilts laying on every couch, chair, or cushion. It was filled with the scents of Judy's youth; roasted carrots, sweet carrot cake, and the rich earth. The place was light and heavy, a mixture of confidence, reassurance, and nervous energy.   
  
Normally, Judy felt at home in the tight spaces filled with faces of her siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and other such relatives. She loved the chaotic control to every event, from the simple shuffle out of someone's way or trying to fit into one particular room of the house. But, like much of the rest of the day, Judy hadn't felt like herself. The sight of the honey colored wood and the hand made quilts brought to mind a life nestled into a quiet burrow. It brought to mind children and pregnancy and marriage and wedding rings and one playful fox with his fluffy tail tucked close to his curvy hips to avoid it being attacked by young bunnies. The rooms were too many, too quaint, too like everything she didn't want to think about as she avoided questions about the upcoming proposal. Instead of being comforted, Judy was distressed, and she chewed on that distress throughout the meal that started shortly after they arrived.   
  
Judy and Nick had actually arrived slightly late for the family reunion dinner. They had gotten off work at just past six and headed out after they changed into their casuals in the locker room. Judy had gotten dressed in her jeans and plaid shirt in a hurry, because she knew she'd have to explain why they were late and she didn't know what to say. Nick had taken his time, chatting to people as he stood around in his towel; he'd showered after a day walking around the streets. Eventually, he had wandered over to where she was waiting, a hand over her eyes and her foot thumping. She had heard him take in a comforting, deep breath, as he buttoned his pants, and then he was ready to go. Judy had stalled on the walk to the car, fussing with his tie and shirt, while he yawned and clutched the cake from Clawhauser.   
  
By the time they got into the car and headed out, Judy knew they were going to be late and had messaged her mother. When they got there, then, they had been greeted by a large amount of bunnies. Everyone wanted to hug her, shake Nick's hand, and welcome them into the house she had grown up in as if they'd never been there before.   
  
The party was not a celebration of Judy and Nick's one year anniversary. It was a reunion that happened to fall on the same day. Nick had made a joke about it when he found out, in earshot of Judy's mother. From that moment on, it had slowly transformed more and more into an engagement party, despite the fact that Judy and Nick had never discussed marriage with anyone. Evidently, the entire family expected Nick to pop the question and that's what made the house feel as if it were trying to smother her.   
  
Dinner had been the worse ordeal thus far. Well, dessert was, but the meal as a whole had been rather awful. Her mother commenced dinner as soon as introductions were over, because everyone was anxious for the proposal and assumed it would come as a side dish. Judy had been tempted to scoff, at the very thought of Nick being interested in anything other than food when eating, but she didn't burst anyone's bubble. Rather, she had sat down next to Nick by the head of the table and played with a couple of steamed carrots. She didn't have much of an appetite with everyone staring them down, chewing softly and slowly in anticipation. Nick hadn't been affected, of course. He piled up his plate high with mashed potatoes, six different kinds of carrots, ears of corn drenched in butter, and eggplant casserole. He'd cleaned his plate, gotten seconds, unbuttoned his tightly stretched pants, and went back for thirds while everyone held their breath. The whole family sighed with annoyance when Nick sighed with satisfaction and thanked her mother for a delicious meal.   
  
Immediately, the table had cleared of food and been filled with a massive assortment of pies from Gideon Grey's famous bakery. Everyone cut themselves a piece, but no one touched it, except for Nick. Nick polished off five pieces of blueberry pie, eating until he was nearly green in the face. He had sucked the last drop of sauce from his fork, slumped into his chair, and told Judy that he wished she could cook like that. She had punched him in the arm and he had grinned and they had snickered while everyone else glanced around in confusion.   
  
The table had been left in dessert mode as everyone dragged themselves into the living room for the reunion portion. The room was a buzz with people making wild assumptions of when Nick was going to propose. The most popular theory was that he knew Judy expected the proposal during the meal, so he was going to make her think it wasn't happening, and surprise her later on. There was speculation about Nick being a nervous eater or trying to throw her off the trail. Judy knew that Nick was just compensating for skipping lunch. She watched him settle onto the couch, his belly bloated in a small, round arch, and she smiled behind her hand as he drank a beer and talked to people who were trying to pry confirmations out of him about the aforementioned theories.  
  
For a while, Judy watched Nick as he mingled, his eyes growing more and more heavy lidded. Then, he heaved himself up to disappear back to the kitchen, for another piece of pie, she assumed, and she lost sight of him. When he didn't return, she suspected he had slunk off to her old bedroom to sleep or to avoid the crowds or to cram more food into his gullet. Either way, suddenly, she was alone.  
  
She stood against one wall in the living room, a knot twisted in her chest and a glass of blush wine in one hand. Every time someone, anyone, moved, she was startled and would calm her nerves with a sip of the bitter sweet smelling drink. Relatives swarmed her repeatedly to ask after her marriage proposal and she responded in a strangled voice that she needed to go. She'd make a pass through the dining hall, the kitchen, and then find the same spot in the living room, where she would stand until she was bombarded again. Each passing made her more on edge, until her fur was puffed slightly and she was out of wine.   
  
She fingered her glass as she scanned the faces for a pop of orange. Almost immediately, she found one, but it belonged to Gideon Grey. He was talking to her mother, his hands on his wide hips. She thought about waving, to get his attention, or her mother's, to use them as a shield from the other circling relatives but as soon as she lifted her hand, she saw her bare ring finger. The last animal she wanted to be caught alone with was her mother. She couldn't even fathom trying to endure that level of personal attacks. So, she directed her attention back to the crowd, for more orange, for that soft orange she knew too well.   
  
When she didn't see any, Judy left her perch and went on the hunt. The dining room was clear, as was the kitchen, and most of the rooms. She peered into various rooms playfully, as if she expected Nick to know she was looking for him and would be hiding from her like they were children and this was all some elaborate game. Then, she looked into her own room, hoping to find him there.   
  
Often, at large impromptu gatherings, Nick would find his way to her childhood room, with its police academy and Gazelle posters. The room was too short for him, too small for him, too bunny for him, but it was hers, and he said he was comforted by that. He would curl up on her tiny bed, his body squished on it, and he would sleep until she came to rouse him. She loved finding him in a ball, his tail wrapped around his knees, his face buried in her pink pillow, snoring. She especially loved finding him after he'd glutted himself silly on home cooking, because he'd usually be passed out, his pants undone and his shirt riding up on his softly curved belly.   
  
She didn't lie to herself. Judy wanted to know what Nick would look like then, his belly stuck out in a bloated arch, as he struggled to fit on the bunny sized bed. She never mentioned the tight seams of his pants, the stretched fabric of his shirt, the tilt to his belt, the way his uniform struggled to stay buttoned. She never mentioned the curves that rounded out or the softness that piled up or the tilt to their shared bed at home. She never mentioned the way he swayed when he waddled from her mother's kitchen after eating everything he could. That night, he was swollen and plump and round and she wanted to see him stuffed onto her teeny bed.   
  
But, he wasn't there.   
  
Her ears drooped as she looked around, but there was simply no where for him to hide. Dejectedly, Judy left her room and went to her parents' much larger room. She had caught Nick in there a few times before, stretched out on the bed, when he was snooping a look at her baby pictures or eyeing her mother's jewelry. She thought that maybe her room had been too tight of a fit at the moment, so he might have migrated onto the only bed actually fit for his size. She quickly checked, but he wasn't there either. She doubled back through the other bedrooms, but all the beds were empty.   
  
Judy found herself in the living room much sooner than she had hoped. She dodged oncoming relatives and ducked into the dining room. Maybe Nick was helping himself to even more pie or lurking in the kitchen, hoping to snag some leftovers before they got divided among visiting family members. Both places were devoid of any orange, though, so she was left to wander aimlessly around, craning her neck and fighting the urge to call out his name. She had a fleeting fear that he had disappeared, but couldn't figure out why or where he'd go, so she sedated her fears by checking on the car. Perhaps he had remembered the wedding cake, she reasoned. The car was still there, the cake was too, and it was empty of any foxes.   
  
As Judy scratched her head, she saw a fluff of orange standing underneath one of the family's apple trees. Nick was halfway leaning against the trunk, his ears perked up slightly, laughing. Judy raised her hand and halfway called out his name when she noticed the overalls and plaid shirt next to him. About a foot away from him was Judy's father, smiling and wiping his eyes with his free hand. Both of them had lit cigars. Both of them were smiling at each other like family did when celebrating. Both of them looked a little embarrassed when her voice caught them and froze.   
  
Judy's face drained of color. Her hand shriveled and collapsed by her side. Nick winked and blew her a kiss.   
  
The word 'yet' was gone. It was replaced with 'when'.


	2. Soft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Judy tries to scold Nick, but something keeps distracting her: his gut.

Sixty two minutes later, Judy saw Nick walk back into her parents' house through the back door in the kitchen. She saw this because after she witnessed him sharing a cigar with her father, she had returned to the house without another word. She thought it was immature and juvenile to just bolt from the scene while her boyfriend and father watched, though she still did it. As soon as she was inside the sweltering embrace of the house, however, she hadn't known what to do except march over to Nick and tell him he had some nerve to ask her father for her hand in marriage. Since she didn't want to see him, she had paced around the dining hall for a minute. Relatives followed her pacing, so she moved into the kitchen, where space was more limited. She had planted herself in a chair in a small sunny breakfast nook and she waited.   
  
Nick came in, yawning and stretching, with both eyes closed and his arms held over his ears. He used the kitchen door most likely to avoid detection. Or because the shortest distance from one point to another was a straight line and he was too lazy to wander all the way over the porch to either the front or back door. Whatever his reason, he came in and swung his round hip into the door to shut it behind him. It clattered shut as he yawned again, smaller, one hand covering his mouth.   
  
"I can't believe you asked him!" Judy snapped as she jumped up from her chair.   
  
Nick jerked backwards, his eyes wide and his tail instinctively wrapping around his bloated belly. When he saw that it was just Judy, he exhaled and relaxed into his usual calm stance. He snickered and said, "What was I supposed to do? _Not_ ask him?"  
  
"Yes! Yes, that's exactly what you're supposed to do!"   
  
"But you so clearly want to get married and I just figured sooner rather than later," he teased.   
  
"No, I don't! I don't want to get married!"   
  
Nick gasped, pulling away as if she had struck him, "You don't?! You don't wanna marry me?"   
  
Judy frowned, thoroughly unimpressed, and crossed her arms over her chest, "That's not what I meant. I. Of course, I want to marry you-"   
  
"Oh, you do, do you?" Nick laughed, resting his hands on either side of his softly curved belly. Judy's face burned and she fidgeted, her mind racing and her heart jumping and her entire body going numb from ears to tail to toes.   
  
"I. I. What I was trying to say-"  
  
"Because I want to marry you, too."   
  
"Nick!" Judy screeched, her ears standing at attention and her fur standing on end. She tried to push her hands into his mouth, so he couldn't keep saying such things where other bunnies might be listening.   
  
Instead of pushing her hands into his mouth, however, Judy took a one step and pressed into the slightly firm arch to Nick's still bloated belly. Her stomach squished the bit of weight Nick had slowly and steadily put on in the last year since they had officially started dating. His weight was soft, pliable, while the bloat was firm and round, causing her own waist to curve around it. Judy burned hotter as Nick grimaced, though she didn't bounce back. As she stayed where she was, her body relaxed against his weight and he took in a deep breath. She leaned into his belly and out of the corner of her eye, she saw his ears tilt upwards in curiosity.   
  
It was a touch of weight here and there. Judy had watched him put it on from the beginning. She didn't know if it was because he was off his feet, as a cop sitting in a patrol car, instead of slinking around the city as a criminal hustling other animals. She didn't know if it was because he was being ridiculously overfed by her family whenever they visited, which was often. She didn't know if it was because Nick just liked Clawhauser’s doughnuts too much. All she knew was that since they'd started going out,   
he had plumped up month after month.   
  
First, his pants got snug around his hips as they widened. Then, he had to suck in his breath to button his pants. Then, the buttons on his shirt, on his uniform, on anything really, grew tighter and tighter. The button over his naval was stretched enough that his bare fur could be seen through the gap that was pulled open from the pudgy fat of his belly. It was a soft fifteen, twenty, maybe, pounds that he had eaten onto his once slender, willowy form. Enough that Nick had developed a small gut, that stuck out, and nice, round hips that also stuck out. Plump, pudgy, soft, squishy, with an appetite and a full mouth and a rub of his stomach whenever he'd eaten enough to fulfill whatever was making him eat large breakfasts, big lunches, and fattening dinners while stretched out next to the carrot chomping Judy. That's what had become of Nick's waistline.   
  
While Judy didn't mind it, she wasn't vocal about it. She ignored it whenever possible, because it was something that just happened sometimes. When Nick had first put on a lick of weight, Judy had wondered if foxes hibernated; winter had been on the horizon and she had just recently watched him put away thirds for the first time at her parents' house. She had investigated it. No, they did not. So, then, Judy assumed that Nick was just a big eater who indulged himself too much over the holiday season. He didn't lose an ounce after the stockings were rolled up and the champagne corked. He got a bit fatter, actually, as he laid on her bed, flipping blueberries into his purple stained mouth. Shortly thereafter, when he struggled to zip up his uniform pants, Judy gave up on finding an explanation and decided to merely let him go if he was willing to let himself go.   
  
That didn't mean that Judy did anything to call attention to Nick's weight. She went out of her way to not notice it. Whenever Nick got too close and she felt the deep, penetrating heat of squishing into his fat, she had jumped away and moved onto something to put it out of her mind.   
  
This time, she didn't move away. She leaned into him and felt the way he felt underneath her. Tender and warm, with a belly full of nourishing food and his ears tilted all the way forward and a slick smile crossing over his lips and a laugh in the back of his throat and she jumped backwards from him before he could let loose and howl with some form of sarcastic mockery.   
  
Judy cleared her throat and meekly said, "I can't believe you asked my father."   
  
Nick took a moment longer to move out of their pseudo embrace. His ears slicked back to their usual tilt and his tail shifted from side to side. He drummed his fingers on the arch to his belly, then shrugged as if he just remembered what they were actually discussing.   
  
"I couldn't just pass on all this fun."   
  
"What fun?"   
  
"Watching you freak out about every little thing," Nick replied happily.   
  
"Har-Har," Judy said as she rolled his eyes. There was a brief moment of silence, then she blinked and rubbed the back of her neck, "What. . . .What did he say? What did you say?"   
  
"I said, 'Sir, I'd like to marry your bunny bumpkin daughter'," he said as he shined his claws on his shirt, by rubbing them over the arch to his belly. Her eyes dropped to his waist, then back up to his face.  
  
"You did not say that."   
  
"Yes, I did."   
  
"You did not."   
  
"Yes, I did. And then your daddy asked me why and I said because I loved you, plain and simple," Nick quickly said, talking over her protests. She narrowed her eyes and he grinned that grin she loved part of the time. Nick chuckled and straightened his tie, "He said I was allowed to take you as long as I promised to feed and walk you."   
  
"Niiiick, noooooo," Judy moaned, covering her face, "I can't believe. You weren't supposed to. I'm not ready to have kids."   
  
"Who said we would have kids any time soon?" Nick asked, motioning to himself, "Do I strike you as someone who'd make a good dad?"   
  
"Well, you sure fooled me with you dad routine."   
  
Nick's ears twitched ever so slightly as a ripple went up his snout at the mention of the first hustle that had brought them together. Then, he shrugged, all his charm melting over his soft curves. He gave half a laugh, "I'm not interested in having kids right now."   
  
"So, you asked for my hand in marriage, but what? You don't intend on proposing?"   
  
"Not right this second, no."   
  
"Then when?" Judy demanded, her voice a sharp falsetto and her palms sweating. Her nose twitched against her will as Nick glanced her up and down with a difficult to read expression.   
  
"Well," Nick took in a huge breath and slumped over on her, folding his arms on her shoulder. The sudden addition of his heavy weight made Judy's knees knock together. His belly pushed against hers, soft and firm, fat and plump, and well rested like the rest of his squishy body. Judy's ears lifted up in attention as Nick let out an exasperated sigh. His belly ballooned forward as he exhaled, bulging out underneath his tight shirt.   
  
Nick started to say something witty and clever about the proposal that would never not be expected. It was probably something so sharp that Judy would laugh in spite of herself. But, Judy didn't hear anything that came out of his mouth. Her mind was focused on the additional pounds resting on her shoulder. She lightly lifted one hand and placed two fingers on his bloated gut. Her fingers rested there, then pressed into the fat, into the buttery, sugary, warm as honey milk fat. Her fingers indented and she made a noise deep in her throat. Her fingers quivered and his fat shifted and she squealed somewhere in her small body. She smoshed her entire hand into his belly and he made a similar noise and she jolted back to the kitchen, where he had asked for her hand in marriage and she had wanted to chew him out about it.   
  
Judy opened her mouth to scold him when Nick leaned down and kissed her. Judy's little bunny heart exploded the way it always did when her big fox boyfriend kissed her. It was a dark sensation that was somewhat frightening, in that this is too good to be true way, and somewhat unbelievable, in that this can't actually be happening because it's too good to be true way. It was a burst of sunlight and orange sunsets and teal blueberry sauce and that white teeth bite me pretend emotion that she didn't know the name of. Nick didn't have to kiss her hard or kiss her long or kiss her onto the floor or onto the table top or down in the back seat of the patrol car to make the kiss unforgettable. He just had to kiss her with his sharp teeth and his slick-nick grins and his snout wrinkled cutely and his eyes closed passionately and the kiss was more than enough to make her rabbit heart burst.   
  
Judy rode the kiss for three timeless moments before she kissed back, the way that she always did. Nervous and sure, with her hands finding something to hold onto. She caught his tight shirt and his tight belly and she clung as their noses touched and she felt him open his mouth. She opened hers and she tasted him inside her in a flurry of colors that went red, orange, white, black, blue, and red again. Everything tasted like fox and fox tasted like falling backwards into nothing and knowing there was something wonderful at the bottom of the delirious free fall.   
  
Then, Nick leaned back and took his delicious mouth with him. Judy frowned and her eyes slowly opened. Nick was still close enough that she hopped up and kissed him quickly on the lips. He was caught off guard and jerked slightly when she returned the favor. At once, however, his eyes went calm and his smile went collected and he grinned down at her.   
  
Judy shook out her arms and twisted slightly away from Nick as she said, "I think it's time for us to go. We've got work in the morning."  
  
"Yeaaah," Nick nodded solemnly as he said it, before he pushed a hand onto Judy's shoulder, "Or, well, we can always do this."   
  
Without waiting for her answer, Nick kissed her all over again. Only this time, it wasn't a simple kiss that overwhelmed her tiny body. This time, he kissed her hard into the back door to the kitchen and he kissed her long and he kissed her messy. His cold teeth ran over her neck, his quivering hot tongue slicked up the fur on her jawline, and his strong hands gripped her hips and his fat belly squished into her waist. He was on top of her, simply from size alone, and she was easily overtaken by his presence. Nick was a formidable hunter and she was a tiny bunny and his foxiness brought her blood to a boil and her knees to a weak tremble.   
  
Nick eased his wet mouth from hers, licking his lips slowly, his teeth showing like white daggers in his otherwise coy mouth. Judy shivered and she swallowed hard. Her heart thumped and her skin tingled and she smoothed her fingertips over the bloat to his belly. He laughed lightly and she giggled and he cupped her face and he brought his mouth over hers with his teeth bared and her eyes wide.   
  
"Judy?"   
  
Her mother's concerned voice cut through the foxy intoxication. Judy's eyes widened as she took in the horrible scene from her mother's perspective in the doorway. A fox with his teeth exposed and her daughter caught in the green pools of his eyes. Judy wasn't sure which image was worse: that her daughter was the prey in a violent attack or that her daughter was an active participate in inter-species heavy petting. Either way, Judy jerked away from Nick's devastatingly delicious mouth.   
  
"Yes?!" she cried back at her mother while Nick leaned away.   
  
"Your aunt Molly is heading home," Mrs. Hopps responded absentmindedly, her eyes continually moving from Judy's stiff body and Nick's casual stance beside her. Her mother opened her mouth to say something, but stopped short. She continued again in a moment, blinking her eyes very quickly, "I wanted to know if you wanted to say good night."   
  
"Hmp," Judy grunted, perking up her ears and nodding. She then gestured between Nick and herself, "We're heading out too."   
  
"Oh, really?"   
  
"Yeah. We've. We've got work. Right, Nick?" Judy nudged him in the gut and he groaned slightly, but nodded. Judy stretched her arms and faked a yawn, "Gotta get some shut eye."   
  
"Of course, dear. Oh!" Mrs. Hopps went over to the fridge as she waved in Nick's general direction, "Let me fix you a plate to go, Nicky, sweetie."   
  
"Yes, please do." Nick excitedly said, rubbing the sides of his bloated belly. The weight shifted and jiggled and stretched his shirt. He licked his lips hungrily and let his belly drop back down, where it bounced slightly and strained the last button on his shirt, "I sure love your casserole. Can I have some of that?"   
  
"I'll cut you a big piece. How about that?"   
  
"Sounds deee-licious. Can I have some of the, uh, corn too?" Nick said as he leaned a touch over Mrs. Hopps in order to see what she had at her disposal, "And some blueberries and pie and those carrots?"   
  
"Which carrots, dear?"   
  
"Oh, just give him some of all of them." Judy chimed in, unable to keep the smile out of her voice. Nick shot her a sour glare, whereas her mother looked momentarily inspired.   
  
"I'll just wrap up some of everything, honey,"   
  
"Thank you, so much, Bonnie. I really appreciate it. But, uh, is there anyway I could, I don't know, have a piece now?" Nick asked, pointing at one of the casseroles that Mrs. Hopps was cutting apart for him.   
  
"Nick! We just had dinner!" Judy exclaimed, her nose twitching slightly. Nick shot her another sour stare while her mother waved her off.   
  
"Oh nonsense, Judy. If he's hungry, then he's hungry," Mrs. Hopps said, before she placed the knife on the casserole and looked over her shoulder at Nick's suddenly smiling face, "Now, how big a piece do you want, sweetie? This big?"   
  
"Uh, a little bigger. A little bigger. Liiiiill biiiiigger. Yes, right there. That'll do me," Nick said, once the knife had reached the halfway point. Judy gave him a look, which he ignored as he took the plated piece from Mrs. Hopps. Nick crammed a huge bite of the cold casserole into his mouth and he moaned slightly with pleasure.   
  
Judy glanced up and down Nick's side as he pushed enormous bites into his mouth. He emptied the plate in a short amount of time, cleaning it and licking any congealed sauce from it's porcelain sides. He spun the plate between his fingers and grinned at Mrs. Hopps as she boxed up massive sections of the buffet styled meal to make him take home bags. Judy took in the way he watched, the way he ate like a ravenous creature had overtaken his yummy mouth, the way his belly stuck out underneath his overly tight shirt. Then, she nudged him in the side, and relished as her arm sunk into the weight.   
  
"This is why you've gotten so fat, Nick," Judy jeered.   
  
"Excuse me?" Nick said with a sarcastic little gasp as he pushed his hand into his chest. She giggled and he rubbed the sides of his belly, "I'll have you know, I've hardly put on any weight at all, madam."   
  
"Yeah, yeah,"   
  
"I'm serious,"   
  
"Oh, Nick, I don't car-"  
  
"Oh, I think you do," he interrupted, winking and turning away as she flustered and rubbed her arm. His ears perked up and she nudged him in the side again, which made them both grin.   
  
But, they were stopped in their teasing by Mrs. Hopps suddenly turning around with containers filled with different foods. She handed each container to Nick as she told him what it was, which was quite literally a not so small sample of everything that had been served at dinner or dessert, including three whole pies. She stacked it all up quickly in his arms, loading him up with delicious rabbit home cooking. When she dropped the last pie into place, Nick was bent halfway over, his cheek pushed into the top of the containers.   
  
Mrs. Hopps rubbed his other cheek and kissed him softly, "You eat up, dearie. Judy can say whatever she likes. You're still nothing but skin and bones. You know, Judy, it's not too late to learn-"   
  
"Momma, I told you, we don't have a stove."   
  
"Have you thought about getting a bigger place?"   
  
"Mom."   
  
"I can teach you how to make my famous casserole," Mrs. Hopps protested, petting Nick's head so that his ears slicked down. He strained under the weight of the food as Mrs. Hopps continually touched his fur, "He just loves it."   
  
"Right. And if he got it every night, he wouldn't be able to walk," Judy said, pushing a hand into Nick's back to steer him towards the door.  
  
"But, sweetie-"   
  
"Mom. Can we not have this discussion right in front of him?"   
  
"I don't mind," Nick chimed in as he walked to the door, his tail swaying from side to side as it always did whenever he walked. Judy was tempted to stomp on it, but she settled for pushing him out the door and giving her frowning mother a smile.   
  
The kitchen door swung shut after them and they were lost in a sea of faces all groaning in unison when they saw that they were loaded up and ready to head home for the evening without a proposal. Judy noticed that a few of the men were talking to her father, and they all looked over at Nick with a mark of pride in their eyes, as if they couldn't believe a city slick fox would ask a bunny farmer for his daughter's hand in marriage; as if they respected him a little more for being that kind of animal. At least, she hoped it was because he was from the inner city and not because he was a fox, but she didn't dare venture over to her father to find out. Judy pressed Nick forward and hoped he was paying attention to the food, so he wouldn't notice the looks he was getting, because he'd want to slink over and shoot the breeze with her father and his friends and ask them whether it was because he was from the city or a fox.   
  
She didn't think he noticed, because they weaved their way through the maze of goodbyes and nice to see yous without him needing to be a brat about anything. Judy assumed the food weighed a lot and he wanted to get to the car. His arms were shaking a little and his ears were slicked down to his skull and his eyes were alert. Judy did what she could to speed them through the numerous hugs and kisses, but she could only go so fast. She had two hundred and seventy five siblings and that was just her siblings.   
  
Eventually, they spilled out the front door and were in the clear to make it to their car. Judy bolted over to it and unlocked the doors. Nick waddled over, his knees starting to shake as well. Judy hopped up and down, grabbing the containers from him and fitting them where she could in the small space they had available. As she did, he slowly stood up straighter and he rested his hands on his hips, watching her as she crammed the containers all over the front seat. When she was done, she dusted off her hands and smirked back at him.   
  
"Think you can squeeze in?"   
  
"Oh, come off it, Rabbit. I've hardly put on any weight," Nick cooed back as he walked over to the passenger side and climbed into the car. Judy hopped in after him and readjusted some of the food as he buckled up. Judy placed a stack of food in his lap that there wasn't room for.   
  
"Try not to finish it by the time we get home,"   
  
"Oh, don't worry, I won't. I have to save it so I have something to eat since someone doesn't know how to cook," Nick teased back as he opened the lid on the Big Pig's bright pink bakery box.  
  
Judy rolled her eyes, then revved the truck to life. She started out of the driveway, waving to the gathered family members while Nick broke off a piece of the cake. Judy glanced his way and said, "Like I said, if you got fed like this every day, you wouldn't be able to walk."   
  
"And that's a bad thing?" he said as he crammed the cake into his mouth.  
  
"Are you really eating that? It's been in the car for hours," Judy said as she sideways watched him lick his fingers.  
  
"It's a little melty, but tasty."   
  
"I don't see how you have any room for more food. I've never seen you pack it away like that before,"  
  
"Pack it away? That's new."   
  
Judy's nose twitched and she gripped the steering wheel, "I mean, it's just you ate so much at dinner and dessert and-"  
  
"Did I?"   
  
"I didn't mean-"   
  
Nick snickered playfully as he ate another chunk of the cake. His cheeks swelled slightly and he closed his eyes as he chewed. Then, he swallowed and laughed, "Calm down, Carrots. I know you like it."  
  
"It? Like it? Like what?"   
  
"My gut."   
  
Judy slammed her foot down on the brake, which jerked the car to a stop in the dead center of a quiet street leaving Bunny Burrow. Nick and the various food containers lurched forward in a similar fashion to earlier that day. He steadied everything with a laugh in his eyes at her panicked stare. Like always, he was perfectly collected and grinning in a flash while her chest pounded and her heart cartwheeled from her throat to her stomach. Her eyes betrayed her, though, by immediately fixating on the bloated arch to his waist, which was filling up again on casserole and cake. The buttons were tight and she knew his pants were undone and he had frosting on his fingers and they were surrounded by dozens of pounds of food that would be gone in two days and his ears perked up and her ears did too and her hand turned the key and the car died as she launched herself over the cheesy gooey casserole her boyfriend couldn't get enough of and had eaten thirds of just a few hours ago.   
  
Being a small bunny, Judy cleared the containers in a single bound that landed her in Nick's surprised lap. She pushed the cake and the carrots and the food from his lap, to the floor, to the side, to her seat, as she nestled her thighs around that delicious bulge underneath his shirt. She grabbed his slightly plump cheeks and she kissed him deeply, pushing his soft, squishy body back into the seat. His green eyes widened and his ears twitched and his hands found her hips in the shock. She kissed him the way she wanted to kiss him when her mother had interrupted.   
  
Her mouth opened and his did and she tasted buttercream frosting and foxiness. His warmth oozed down her backside as she rubbed his cheeks, rubbed his neck, rubbed his shoulders, rubbed his loose tie, rubbed down his chest to his bloated belly. She groped it. She didn't rub it or touch it or lightly rest her fingers into the ooey gooey weight he'd packed on. She groped. She squeezed and she pushed her fingers in and she felt the way it shifted and the weight of it and the way his sides stuck out and his fat pushed into her thighs, having grown wide enough to fill in the space between her legs. She grabbed his sides, his new love handles, and she smoshed her hands into his hips, for all their width. She made noises into his mouth as his eyes rolled back into his skull and his body relaxed and slumped an inch down and an inch out.   
  
Judy pulled her mouth away and she planted it on his throat. His fur was warm and then wet from her saliva and she licked him clean as he moaned and snickered and tried to say something clever. She shut his mouth by unbuttoning his shirt at his waist. She pushed it up to expose his round tummy and she rubbed her nails over the soft fat.   
  
"You're right. I do like it," she breathlessly said as she kneaded his belly and he groaned and trembled. She kissed his neck and she felt his wet mouth panting at her shoulder, "I don't know why, but I like it. I didn't want to. To embarrass you-"  
  
"Don't apologize, Judy. Just keep, yeah," Nick gasped out, motioning back to her hands as one eye closed.   
  
"Oh, right. Sorry."   
  
Judy cupped his face and kissed him, then moved back to his neck. He moaned when she shifted her hips and when she unbuttoned the rest of his shirt. She pressed her plaid shift into his fur, her small breasts squishing against him, as she gripped the sides of his belly with both of hers. The weight molded to her touch and she ran her tongue over his collar bone. Nick muttered something inaudible as she felt his fat and she caressed his love handles and she matted his fur from his throat to his belly. She kissed and sucked on the fur at the largest part to his swollen stomach. She wanted to go lower, but her back hit the dashboard, and she was left rubbing circles on his stomach. He shifted and whimpered and her ears perked up. One ear turned to his mouth as he covered his face with one hand. A smile crossed her face as she slowed the kissing down to nothing.   
  
She rested her cheek on his belly as she eased her hands down to his thick thighs. He let out another tiny noise, his eyes closed, and his chest pounding with desperation. She fingered his thighs, felt how his pants were stretched, before she heaved his belly up slightly. Nick gasped and he grabbed the sides of his bloated tummy to lift it up just enough for her to unzip his already undone pants. She felt wetness on the front of his pants and she shivered, her nose twitching and her blood cooling in that overwhelming sensation of being dropped through the fox hole.   
  
Her small hands found his erection the way they always did when she got him over aroused in the passenger seat of a car on a deserted road in the night time hours. He groaned and he moaned and he swore in brightly colored language as his fingers sank into his stomach and hers circled the base of his shaft. Judy nestled his belly and she rubbed her hands over his cock. He was wet from precum and he was hard from her petting and she loved the combination. She was slow. He liked it that way, even if his eyes widened in pain and his body shook from ears to the tip of his curled tail. She listened to his raspy, wet breaths and watched his tail straighten out and fluff up as she stroked. She rubbed her fingers around, encircling and rubbing upwards. Then, her thumbs found the tip and she rubbed frantically and he screamed her name and she whispered his and her cheek was buried in his fat and he came in a hot spurt of sticky fluid in the palm of her hand.   
  
Immediately, Nick slumped down in the seat, his body liquid from the pleasure. He sank down, his eyes just barely opened, and he panted hungrily over her head. Judy wiped her hands on a discarded receipt, then rested her fingers on his stomach. It heaved from the harsh way he was panting. She lightly kissed him and he kissed back. It was a tired, pleased kiss. It was soft and squishy like him. Judy finished him off with multiple kisses to his neck and his cheeks and his mouth, then buttoned his shirt back up. She attempted to zip his pants, but his belly got in the way, and he tiredly waved her off. Judy petted his ears and he 'mmmm'd her, a drunken smile forming.   
  
"I knew you liked it."   
  
"I do," Judy assured him, before she kissed his cheek one last time. She climbed back into her own seat and rearranged to containers. She absentmindedly handed the bright pink cake box to him as she started the car again.   
  
The car ride back into Zootopia was made in relative silence as Judy smiled at the rode, her face burning and her ears perked up. They were turned to the passenger side, where Nick lazily ate and rubbed the side of his fat belly as it rounded out nicely from wedding cake.


	3. Broken Windows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Judy and Nick are given a new case to solve.

The Grand Pangolin Arms was wide awake when Judy and Nick got home around midnight. Animals decked out in platform shoes and sparkly dresses were just heading out for the evening, while another set in similar clothing was just arriving back. There was a jumble of legs and arms in the main entrance to the stairs that lead up to their studio apartment crushed on the second floor. Noise followed their creaking footsteps to the door and more greeted them on the other side, from their fighting next door neighbors. Judy grimaced at the sound slightly while Nick made a beeline for the bed without even noticing. He left her with the task of finding room for all the leftovers. He simply yawned, stretched, pulled his shirt off, and fell onto the rickety bed. By the time the door shut and Judy glared at the bed, her arms loaded up with his food, Nick was asleep. She knew it just by the way his tail curled and his breathing evened out.

Judy slammed the door shut, but he didn't stir. Nick had spent his entire life in the city and was completely unaffected by loud noises when sleeping. She had found that out the first night he moved in. She had been apologizing all day for the size of the place and for the greasy walls and for the one bed and for the nothing that was her home. Nick had laughed and told her it was fine; he had grown up in the city and knew all about the lifestyle. Judy had been embarrassed. Embarrassed and relieved. It was an embarrassed/relieved combo, really, when Nick had happily crossed his arms and said it reminded him of his youth. That first night, he snored next to her while she stayed up to four am listening to her neighbors fight about who was keeping the other awake. So, Judy knew slamming the door wouldn't wake him up.

"Makes me feel better, though," she mumbled to herself as she gingerly dropped the containers of food onto the floor near the small fridge pushed up against the desk.

The sheer amount of containers overtook the apartment when they were piled up in a large stack. The place was incredibly small, fit for a single bunny; just barely. When Judy got the place, there was nothing in it aside from a desk, chair, and a squat bed. She had purchased a few things in order to survive, such as a microwave and a mini fridge. For the most part, she left it the way she got it. 

That had changed when Nick moved in permanently, which had happened not entirely too long after they started dating. Since then, the room had become steadily more crowded with things that she never would have thought necessary if she had lived alone. There was a squat, rectangle fridge by the desk. Some case of booze or a stack of doughnuts was always sitting on top. There was a hook on the wall near the door where a black trench coat was hanging, along with a couple of colorful ties. By the foot of the bed, there was a black suitcase that doubled as extra clothing storage. A laundry basket full of dirty police uniforms was in front of that. Room was sparse, but it became even more so when Nick invaded it with mess and scattered shirts and discarded files and balled up paperwork and empty boxes from the cafe near the station. He took up more room than she had originally anticipated.

However, Judy hadn't put a lot of thought into things when she had moved Nick it. Mainly, because she hadn't moved him in at all. He had just arrived, with his foxy smiles and his bigger fridge needs. Judy had, for her own right, invited him inside. She had asked him over from the beginning. They were friends, they were partners, and she wanted to have some friend time with him. When they started going out, Judy gave it some thought, and decided that she wanted to have Nick one day live with her. She intended to get used to the idea of him being around all the time, so she'd taken the first baby step.

She had shyly given him his own key, stating that he was welcome over whenever he liked. Nick used her place for about three days as a hide away during his lunch breaks. On the fourth day, Nick asked if he could have dinner at her place. He came over, they ate dinner, she apologized a thousand times, he laughed about it, she asked him to spend the night, it was late, he agreed, he stretched, he laid down, and he simply never left. He woke up, went to work with her, ate lunch in the squad car with her, came for dinner, spent the night, and woke up next to her. In the course of a week, his extra clothes slipped in, his shades found a home on the picture of her siblings, and Judy brought home an spare set of towels. He nailed up a hook for his jackets and she traded out her mini fridge for a larger model to house more than just carrots. Nick dumped his junk in her junk bowl and she hung around in his shirts on her days off.

Then, one day, Judy had been sitting at her desk, watching a music video on her phone, when her eyes had shifted upwards. She saw Nick's shades on her family photo. His paperwork was stacked on top of hers. His dirty clothes were strewn over her floor. The fridge had a spare case of malt liquor on it. The sheets were bunched up in the corner. And Nick was laying on her bed, propped up on her pillows, wearing a tee shirt and his boxers, watching the same video on her lap top. 

Judy had asked him, "Did you move in?"

"Uh-huh. Three months ago. Keep up with the times, Carrots," Nick had absentmindedly answered as he scrolled down the page, his eyes never leaving the screen. 

Nick lived with her and the room had grown to reflect that. As such, when Judy dumped all the food onto the floor, the little space was nearly wholly consumed. She opened up the fridge; hoped there was enough room to fit at least some of the food inside. She was greeted by an assortment of fruit, fruit salad, lettuce wraps, cake, pie, cookies, carrots, a case of beer, and two bottles of water. Almost everything had been nibbled at and re-wrapped by Nick. He was a serial grazer, she had learned. He liked to work his beat with half a grilled cheese or a box of chocolate chip cookies. He liked to relax with a handful of blueberries or a taste of yogurt or piece of strawberry cake. Like he had with the room, Nick had filled up her fridge with his snacks. 

Judy made quick work of removing whatever wasn't immediately perishable. She filled up the space with containers of leftovers that were. She managed to fit the majority of what she needed into the fridge, by removing almost all of his snacks. She stacked them on the desk, so that the fruit was in front and the cakes were in the back.

"He'll eat them before they go bad," Judy assured herself as her nose twitched. 

Her fur fluffed as she picked up the last container to be packed into the overly stuffed fridge. It was the pink newlywed cake from Clawhauser. Judy shrugged and opened it, figuring a taste wasn't going to hurt anything. The inside was licked clean. Not a speck of frosting, not a crumb of cake, nothing but slight claw marks from her boyfriend's greedy fingers. Judy flushed and trembled. He'd eaten the whole thing. The whole cake, from start to finish, along with thirds, five pieces of pie, and an extra large slice of casserole. All crammed into his bloated belly, plumping him up a tiny touch more. Her ears faced the direction of the bed where Nick snored.

Then, her ears slicked down and her eyes narrowed and she looked back at the empty box. She jerked around to glare at his soft backside and growled, "You didn't leave me _any of it_."

Judy crushed the box and threw it to the side.

What a night. 

They were late for work the next morning. The alarm went off at the same time it always did; 5:30 in the morning. Judy fumbled through the darkness to tap it off. Then, she settled back down into Nick's soft fur. His weight melded over her waist and hips as she curled up against him. Judy had her arms wrapped around Nick's belly and she wasn't keen to let go. However, her secondary alarm, for six am, went off and jolted her from the dreamy embrace of her fox. Judy looked at the time, screamed that they were late, and bolted from the bed. Nick tossed the sheets off and scrambled to get dressed. Judy rapidly pulled on her outfit and vests while Nick sucked in his gut in order to button his uniform. She shoved a half eaten box of doughnuts into his hands as they rushed from the apartment.

By the time they reached the station, a sense of dread washed over Judy. She continually glanced down at her bare fingers. The whole department had been certain that they were getting engaged the night before. She didn't know what she was going to say or what they would say when they found out it hadn't happened.

Judy was about to ask Nick what they should say when he crumbled up the box of doughnuts and shoved it in the trash can outside the station. He belched into his fist, a wet sound that made Judy's ears shoot straight up. She stared at him, her hands twisting together, unable to process that they were in a hurry. He noticed her staring and he cocked half a smile as he sucked some frosting from his thumb.

"Uh, excuse me," he finally said, rubbing the arch to his belly. 

"What?" Judy asked, blinking rapidly. Nick arched an eyebrow as she quickly looked anywhere but his belly. She saw that they were in front of the station and she panicked, "We're late! You made me late! Again!"

"Me? How is this possibly my fault?" Nick asked as he followed her inside.

Judy glared over her shoulder, marching over to the front desk. She hissed, "I was supposed to get up at 5:30." 

"I don't recall stopping you from doing that."

"Well, you did!"

"Byyyyy, what? Being so snugly and irresistible?" he shimmed his wide hips, his tail shivering, as he made a face at her. Judy shot him a vicious stare, but that only made him burst out a loud barking laugh. She glared harder and he waved her off, wiping away a fake tear, "That's unbelievably sappy."

"Shut. It." 

"Oh, yeah. Gotta be professional at work. Yeah. Okay." 

"You didn't save me any doughnuts!" Judy snapped instead, jabbing a finger at his plump, little belly, "Or any of the cake! The wedding cake!" 

"You never eat that crap anyways. You gotta stay in shape for the job or whatever," Nick answered, yawning slightly into the back of his hand. 

"I could have eaten a slice or a bite or a dab of frosting." 

"I'll remember that next time we get wedding cake." 

Judy nodded sharply, "That's right. You think about that."

"Oh. My. Goodness. Did I really hear you two talking about wedding cake already?!" Clawhauser interrupted, his incredibly loud voice jumping from the dispatch desk to the ears of every animal within a five block radius. 

Instantly, the force erupted into howls and jeers and feet stomping. Kissy noises and clapping surrounded them. Always the charmer, Nick waved to their co-workers before putting an arm loosely around Judy's shoulders. Normally, Judy would let him; he was warm and soft and tall and she liked that his tail inadvertently brushed her whenever his fat hips were close by. With all the hooting, though, she elbowed him in the side and shoved him off. The force sneered and boomed with laughter, which made Nick laugh.

All of it was silenced when the door to the bull pen was thrown open by a furious looking Chief Bogo. The other officers were suddenly busy and mulling about when Bogo shouted, "Hopps! Wilde! You're late! Get in here!"

Judy bolted for the door while Nick lazily saluted Clawhauser and tailed her the whole way. Judy hopped up to the front and into the empty chair by McHorn that was designated for the two small cops. She sat straight and alert, to the chuckling of the other officers, while Nick pulled himself up next to her. He crammed a swiped doughnut into his mouth as he did, so as not to be seen by their boss. 

Nick's curvy hips and thicker thighs took up a large part of the chair these days, so that Judy was pushed near the edge. Beforehand, she would sit very straight and cautious not to make any motion that suggested she was worried about falling off. Now, now that she had said she liked his extra weight and he knew, she pressed back, squishing into his side and making him instinctively put an arm around her. The moment he did, she elbowed him, he returned to professional mode and both of them smiled meekly up at the observant Bogo.

Bogo arched an eyebrow, then picked up his clipboard. He adjusted his reading glasses and continued his morning assignments, "As I was saying, there are two items on the docket. First, congratulations are in order for Hopps and Wilde. She finally made an honest fox out of him."

More hooting and stomping and table banging greeted the announcement. Judy opened her mouth to say something when Nick motioned under the table not to. She almost asked him why, giving him a look, but then Bogo shouted for them to shut it. The room went still and all eyes fixated on him.

"I expect to be invited to the ceremony, of course. You can have my invitation delivered to my office," Bogo calmly continued, before he looked seriously at the clipboard, "Secondly, welcome back Frank, who's been out with pneumonia for the past two weeks. Let's keep those sick days to a minimum from now on. Thank you, Wilde, for filling in on Tundratown Swat for him."

"My pleasure, sir," Nick answered with a grin, "It was nice to be the boss for a change." 

Judy elbowed him in the side to the snickers of the rest of the room. Bogo nodded and continued, "And a special thank you to you, Hopps, for loaning out your husband. But you can have him back for this next case. You two are in charge of a string of assaults on owners of bakeries around City Central. Find out who wants to put them out of business and put _them_ out of business." 

Bogo held out the file to Judy. She took it from him and slipped out of the chair with Nick right behind her. They left the room while Bogo shouted out the names of the other officers so they could get their assignments. While they walked, Judy opened the file and started to skim over the notes and details regarding four separate, incredibly violent attacks on individuals who owned bakeries or other sweet related shops. There weren't many clues or leads, nor similarities among the owners. Two were honest bakeries, one was a muffin stall, and the last was an ice cream parlor. The owners were all different species, a mixture of predator and prey, and hardly had anything in common aside from their choice of product. They were also spread out around City Central, with no common landmarks or crossings.

Outside of that, the cases were identical. Shortly before the owner was getting ready to leave for the evening, three white bricks would be thrown through the windows of the shop and someone would come inside. The perp was described as being around four to five feet tall, average build, with no other distinguishing marks like horns or a tail. The perp wore a mask and tased the owner as soon as they laid eyes on them. With the owner incapacitated, the perp would smash the place with a metal bat and stole all of their remaining products, though the front door remained locked, suggesting that the prep left the building another way. Before they left, they spray painted the words 'Close your doors' and 'Fraud' on the walls. 

"The perp is about four foot. Huh. It's not you, is it?" Judy teased, glancing Nick up and down as they headed past the dispatch desk.

Nick smirked and rubbed the side of his belly, "Who knows? I've gotta get my fix somehow."

She rolled her eyes and squinted at the file, "Oh, nope. No tail and you've definitely got some tail. Besides. You were never violent." 

"Naw. Not my style."

"You were only ever a petty career criminal. . ." her voice trailed off as she read the case file on the first owner; a young tigress whose bakery specialized in gourmet cupcakes, "What's a gourmet cupcake?" 

"It's a super fancy heavenly experience," came Clawhauser's voice from over their shoulders. Judy jumped out of her fur and nearly dropped the case file; Nick took the opportunity to swipe it from her hands so he could read the details. They had come to a stall in front of the dispatch desk and Clawhauser leaned over the counter with a wide smile on his enormous face. He wiggled his eyebrows, "Going with cupcakes instead of cake? It's all the rage right now."

"Um, no-" Judy started to say, right before Clawhauser snapped his fingers and pointed at her.

"You should totally have an assortment of cupcakes! Maybe one to represent you and one for Nick and then one mixed. Oh, wouldn't that be divine?" Clawhauser gushed, slumping onto the counter.

"Wouldn't work. Her favorite is carrot cake and nothing tastes good mixed with carrot cake," Nick answered as he flipped through the case file. Judy thumped her foot slightly and he smiled without looking up.

"Oh, well, what about doughnuts? Just have an assortment of doughnuts shaped like a cake," Clawhauser said, his eyes widening with excitement. He smacked the desk and snorted, saying, "Y'know, because you're cops! Ha ha. That'd be a riot."

"Ha! That'd work. Wouldn't that work, honey?" Nick asked in an overly thrilled voice as he grinned down at Judy, "What do you think? You like that idea? Doughnuts?" 

"I think you're a doughnut," Judy sneered as she snatched the case file from him and grabbed his wrist. She waved to Clawhauser, "We've got to be going. Got a lot of work to do. You know, new case and all."

"Okay, honey. You be safe out there. OH! And I want to see the riiiing when you get back!" Clawhauser called after them, pointing at his hand. 

Judy gave Clawhauser a strained smile while she dragged Nick from the station. As soon as they were away from earshot, she gave him a hard stare down, which he laughed off like it tickled him all over his pudgy sides. He chuckled all the way over to their police car. He still snickered when they buckled up and she peeled out of the parking lot. She let him have his laughs, for now. The sound was cute and his pleased expression made her nose twitch slightly. Besides, they had a case and that always made her more forgiving of his antics.

Despite being romantically involved, Judy and Nick continued to be partners on the force. For starters, they were the only two animals of their size on the force, which already made them ideal candidates. Then, there was the undeniable fact that Nick was a former criminal and Judy had vouched for him when she helped him get accepted into the academy. She took responsibility and made sure that his penchant for shop lifting and pick pocketing didn't get him in trouble now that he was a cop. Lastly, and probably the most unspoken of all reasons, the two of them had solved one of the biggest conspiracies in Zootopia history by themselves and had shown that they worked perfectly together, regardless of their relationship status. No one wanted to mention the preferential treatment, so no one did. 

Judy was grateful for that, since she couldn't imagine having another partner. She had cracked her first major case with Nick's help. She didn't know what to do without his calm demeanor lurking behind her bolstering energy. He was the steady to her hurry and she in no small part believed the combination helped along the cases they got. Not only that, but Nick was born and raised in Zootopia. He was well connected to all major and minor crime circles in one way or another. He was sneaky and clever and willing to be a part of whatever scheme Judy pulled out of her hat. She liked that. 

Not to mention the clearly obvious reason she didn't want another partner. Which was that Nick was her foxy boyfriend and she adored being around him. She loved the sensation of him sitting beside her, his reflector shades on, but his eyes vigilant on patrols. She relished him being there, inches from her, during criminal take downs; his ears slicked back and his tail fluffed and some wonderful sarcastic comment on his lips. She adored listening to his theories on what happened; his ears perked up and his eyes focused. She just loved it.

She even loved it then, as annoyed as she was with his consistent egging on with Clawhauser's talk of wedding cake. Judy turned the patrol car down the street that would take them to the first bakery in the string of attacks. Her eyes flicked over to where Nick was sitting, rereading over the file. Judy adjusted the mirror, then looked back over at him. 

"Why did you do that?" 

"Do what? Be more specific, sweetheart," Nick nonchalantly asked, turning a page, "I do a lot of things you don't approve of."

"Egg Clawhauser on." 

"It's funny."

Judy's nose twitched and she sternly said, "Getting married to me is funny?" 

"No. Pretending to get married to you is funny." 

"Oh, is it?!" 

Nick blinked slowly and looked her way with heavily lidded eyes. He shut the file and leaned closer. When he spoke, it was all hustling smiles and coy charm, "It's funny because it's not real. Would you like it to be not funny? Because I asked your dad and now we can really get mar-" 

"I'm not ready for marriage and neither are you!" Judy said, speaking over him. She jerked her attention to the road, "You didn't even save me any breakfast. You're not ready for marriage." 

"I don't know, Carrots. We live together. We work together. Might as well spend our lives together." 

"Well, of course, Nick, but not right now." 

"What does that even mean? Not right now?" Nick asked, rolling his eyes.

"Are you mad at me?" 

"No." 

"You sound mad at me," Judy felt her heart skip a beat as he sighed and looked out the window. She drummed her thumbs on the steering wheel, "We're going to spend our lives together. I'm just not ready for kids and that. That. That marriage that." 

"I know that." 

"Then why do you sound so upset?" 

"You just missed the turn onto Cornfield Street," Nick said instead, pointing to a street sign as it sailed past. 

Judy groaned as she made an impromptu U-turn and doubled back to the correct street. She turned onto it and saw a building three doors down with boarded up windows. The 'Tiny Tiger Treats' bakery rolled up beside them as Judy parallel parked near the dark, leering wood covering the wide eyed windows of the shop. She hopped out of the car while Nick slide down from his seat. They joined up on the sidewalk, hip to hip, as they surveyed the scene. Nick pointed out a back door by an alley that they could make out. Judy noted that there was a late night cafe across the street where the perp could have watched the movements of the bakery. Then, Judy motioned for the entrance. She took the lead and Nick followed her inside for routine questioning.

Unfortunately, routine questioning was all they got for the first three stops. The owners of the bakeries and muffin stall had nothing further to add to the case. They had been blindsided and didn't remember anything; all waking up hours after the attack to find their shops in shambles. The only pieces of interest came from Judy and Nick's own observations, which included a side exit from all the buildings leading either into an alley or an open park area, plus an open-late type of eatery across the way where the perp might have staked out the location. They figured the perp was watching the places to learn the schedule of the owners and employees, since all the owners were attacked as they were about to leave for the evening, which was relatively the same time each night for each individual owner. The perp had picked these locations because the owner themselves closed up almost every night and they did so after sending their last employee home.

Outside the obvious trend, they had no leads whatsoever. There were no suggestions for motive. None of the owners had recently fired any employees nor gotten into any professional or personal scuffles. They were all flabbergasted as to why they were attacked and desperately wanted answers. Judy had assured them that they were doing all they could and would let them know as soon as they had any answers to give.

By the time they pulled up outside the last vandalized shop, Judy and Nick had already decided they needed to check the video footage of the surrounding traffic cams to see if they could spot the perp, as well as survey the eateries in front of them for any suspicious activity. Other than that, they weren't sure where to go.

Judy sighed as she parked her car next to a meter on the opposite side of the street from the last shop. She flipped through her notes from the final interview, trying to find words that weren't there. 

Beside her, Nick crammed a blueberry muffin into his mouth. An empty box for a half dozen of them was sitting in his lap. He crushed it as he chewed, his cheeks swollen slightly. He tossed the trash onto the floor at his feet by the box that used to half a dozen hold vanilla and blueberry cupcakes, the plastic container for the whole dozen white chocolate chunk cookies, and the two latte cups. 

Nick had insisted on trying the goods of the shops they visited, for reasons unspecified, but mostly related to his bulging waistline. Although he'd eaten seven doughnuts before they left for the questioning, he claimed to be hungry again at each stop, and said that it wouldn't hurt to sample the food that the prep labeled a 'fraud'. Judy didn't know if him eating would reveal anything, but she played along with his act and allowed him to buy a small sample to pig out on during the ride to the next location. His uniform grew tighter as his belly arched on all the numerous snacks, but Nick ate the last of the muffins regardless. His belt tilted heavily underneath the bloated roll of weight that stretched out his waist, wider and rounder and plumper with every greedily eaten bite. 

For a moment, Judy was worried Nick would eat himself out of uniform before they were finished questioning the last owner. However, he belched into his fist and he licked his lips of the last traces of sugar and the buttons stayed fastened, albeit strained. When he unbuckled his seat belt, his belly sagged forward another inch, causing Judy to hold her breath. She saw white from his undershirt, but again, nothing ripped open and he remained clothed as he opened the door to get out. Judy exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding as she climbed out after him. They rejoined in front of the car and she motioned absentmindedly to his belly.

"I can let that out for you tonight," she said, trying to sound calm. Her voice cracked and Nick's ears flicked, recognizing the breakage.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll get a larger size from the office," he patted the firm arch to his belly, "Gonna need more room than a spare inch." 

"Nick!"

"What? It's the truth," he pushed his hands into his pockets, which further accented his bloated middle. Judy's nose twitched and his tail flicked, "Boy, being here sure does bring back a lot of memories, doesn't it?" 

"Being where?" Judy asked as she followed his gaze across the street to the ice cream parlor they had come to investigate. 

Her ears drooped down and her eyes widened as the massive elephant sized 'Jumbeaux's Cafe' loomed overhead like a sudden punchline to a joke she hadn't heard.

For a split second, she remembered being parked outside this shop, writing a parking ticket for herself on her first day on the job, when she'd seen a sly fox weasel his way into that very shop to hustle himself a Jumbeaux Pop. This was where she met Nick, where he ruined her last shreds of innocence by swindling her out of twenty dollars. She hadn't been back since, but there it was. An enormous shop with giant windows, elephant styled decor, and displays for Jumbeaux Pops.

Except now there were huge gaping holes in the boarded up glass- holes that were roughly the size of the car they'd driven up in. There was debris littered everywhere from the recent attacks, some of it shuffled off to one side and some of it hidden by a giant, hand written banner which read 'We're Open' hanging from the front door. Yet, the debris, the glass, the cracked wooden frame, all of it was visible, all of it menacing and disturbing. As Judy took in the damage, she swallowed hard and opened the case file to the description of the perp. 

"What kind of four foot animal can do that kind of damage with bricks?" Judy asked, shutting the file, "Better yet, what kind of four foot animal can knock an elephant out cold and keep him that way for an hour?"

Nick rubbed the back of his neck, "The kind with a massive sweet tooth?"

Judy glanced at Nick's belly, smirked, and headed across the street while joking, "And you're sure it's not you?" 

"Scout's honor," Nick said, putting a hand on his heart.

Judy rolled her eyes as he yanked the busted doors open for them. The chilled air of the place greeted them; chairs and tables looking their way. Judy pulled out her pad of paper as Nick let the door swing shut behind them. She headed towards the counter, her footsteps loud in the quiet shop. 

Nick put his shades in his front pocket as he wondered aloud, "You think he'll remember me?" 


	4. Jumbeaux

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Judy and Nick question Jumbeaux.

Mister Jumbeaux remembered Nick. That became apparent the moment the counter to the parlor came into view. The massive elephant, with bandages still wrapped around his bruised head, took one quick look at the fox and his trunk jerked for the 'right to refuse service' sign he kept discreetly on the side corner of the bar. Judy immediately grabbed her identification badge from her back pocket and flashed it, despite the fact that both of them were in full uniform and it was completely unnecessary to do so. While Nick might have problems fitting into his uniform with his belly curved outward, he was still in uniform. He had a right to be in the shop and he had a right to question the elephant regarding the attack and he even had a right to buy ice cream if he felt like he wanted to, because he clearly wasn't a criminal anymore. However, Judy flashed her badge anyways, and introduced themselves to the glowering Jumbeaux as Officers Hopps and Wilde, ZPD, here for some routine questioning.   
  
"I done already told everything to the other officer that was in here yesterday," Jumbeaux snarled, leaning one elbow on the countertop. His immense girth made the wood creak and groan. Judy noted the two huge dents in the counter side and the smashed display where the enormous ice pops used to be.   
  
"We were assigned the case this morning and we wanted to review your testimony," Judy stated, writing down the slew of damage that she could make out. She saw Nick glancing around, his eyes narrowed slightly.   
  
"I ain't talkin' to no fox. He ain't welcomed in here,"   
  
"Sir, my partner goes where I go," Judy snapped back.   
  
"Then both of you can get out," Jumbeaux made a jerking motion for the door with his trunk, "'Cuz he needs to get out."   
  
"Sir, we're just trying to do our jobs."   
  
"Oh, don't think I don't remember you too, Bunny. You nearly lost me my shop, comin' in here with all your hoity-toity talk about health violations." He pointed his trunk at her unamused face, before he gestured to where one of his employees was scooping out an enormous single scoop of strawberry ice cream, "As you can see, trunks are gloved. So, no foxes, and no bunnies. Scram."   
  
Judy tapped her pen on the paper, her ears slicking back, "Sir, we're here to find out who did this to your shop."   
  
"Yeah? Well, the guy who did it was about your buddy's height, so who's to say he didn't do it?" Jumbeaux sneered, glaring at where Nick was standing in front of one of the windows. Nick had his pen out and was jotting something down, his ears perked up and tilted in the direction of their conversation. Judy gave the elephant a stare, but he angrily jabbed his trunk at Nick again, saying, "He's a criminal. I've seen him before."   
  
"Sir-"   
  
"Sir, you said that you heard the bricks being thrown through the window while in your back office and that's when you came out to investigate, right?" Nick interrupted, turning towards them.   
  
"Yeah."   
  
Nick nodded and continued, "And when you saw what had happened, you were attacked from behind by the four foot animal, who tased you? Is that right?"   
  
"That's right. Like I told the other officer."   
  
"Can you see the front of the store from your office?"   
  
"What?"   
  
"Your office. It's down that hallway there, past the restrooms, right? The third door, with the staff personnel sticker on it?" Nick thumbed past the tables set up, filled with curious customers. Jumbeaux and Judy both looked down the hall, to the line of doors that made up the bathrooms and other storage areas.   
  
"Yeah. That's my office," Jumbeaux confirmed, leaning back a touch. He gave Nick a stern look, but finally said, "I can see the front doors. Not the counters."   
  
"But, you could see, say, someone climbing in through the front window, right?"   
  
Judy lowered her pen and pad as she turned towards the windows poised behind them. The window behind her, by the counters, was broken halfway up in, from one enormous white brick that had somehow been launched through it. The window on the other side, where Nick was standing, was nearly completely broken from top to bottom, as it had been hit twice by similar sized bricks. From the positioning of the office, it would have been in plain sight if Jumbeaux had walked out when the first brick was thrown through either window.   
  
Judy's ears shot up and Nick smiled while Jumbeaux gave them an exhausted, "Yeah, I guess I woulda seen that."   
  
"But you didn't see anyone, did you?" Nick asked, fighting his usual smile.   
  
"No. Like I said, I was attacked from behind."   
  
"Sir, is your side door in the back of your shop? Say, oh I don't know, located in the back kitchen, by the ice cream cooler, exiting into the park next door?"   
  
Jumbeaux tapped his trunk on the countertop, "Yeah. But it was locked."   
  
"A big enough wad of gum stuck in the lock means it wouldn't have shut all the way, so it wouldn't have mattered if it were locked or not," Nick absentmindedly said as he wrote something down. Jumbeaux flustered and Judy slapped her hand over her mouth. Nick winked and cocked half a smile, "Now, your kitchen entrance is right there, behind the counters?"   
  
" _Yeah_."   
  
"Well, isn't it possible that someone stuck some gum or something in the lock to your back door, snuck inside, and waited behind the counter for you to be lured out by, say, three bricks being thrown through your window?" Nick finally looked up at Jumbeaux, wearing a perfectly vile smile on his pleased face. He shrugged and added, "I mean, you said you couldn't see the counters from the office."   
  
Jumbeaux had nothing to say. He rested his immense weight back, crossing his thick arms over his large stomach. His expression was a mixture of frustration and contemplation about what was being suggested and who was suggesting it. The elephant may not have had anything to say, but Judy did. She saw what Nick was saying as soon as he said it. The perp couldn't have climbed in through the window in front of the counter, because the hole was several feet above the ground. However, if they had come in through the other window, Jumbeaux would most certainly had seen them and possibly been able to do something. He wouldn't have been attacked from behind by an unseen assailant, anyways.   
  
In all the other shops, the offices were located in the back of the store, behind double doors to the storage area. The original theory had been that the perp had smashed the windows, climbed inside, and hid behind a display counter before they attacked the owner when they came to investigate the noise. Then, the perp had loaded up the food through the kitchens, out the back or side door, and vandalized the place. They hadn't been sure how all of that had taken place before someone noticed the broken windows, but it would make sense if there was more than one perp. Perhaps someone who smashed the windows and waited to be let inside to destroy the place while the other tased the owner and packed up the food.   
  
"Oh, Nick, there was an accomplice!" Judy needlessly declared, smacking him in the arm. He nodded, as she hopped up and down, "Okay, well, that tells us a few things about what happened, so, Mister Jumbeaux-"   
  
"Actually, I think it's time we called it a day," Nick interjected, placing a hand on Judy's shoulder.   
  
"What? But you just made a huge break-"   
  
"So, let's go tell the Chief about it." Nick motioned for the door, pocketing his pad of paper. Judy blinked, then noticed the way he was looking at the customers around them.   
  
Judy quickly nodded and shoved her notebook into her back pocket, "Thank you for your cooperation, Mister Jumbeaux. We'll be in touch."   
  
"Oh, before we go, can I order a small ice cream? Blueberry, if you have it," Nick asked Jumbeaux, grinning up at him like this was an inside joke. Jumbeaux rested his hands on his massive hips and stabbed his trunk at the sign. Nick shrugged, rolling his eyes, before he smiled smugly and reminded him, "Y'know, I did just make a big break in your case and-"  
  
"Fine, fine. Ten dollars."   
  
"Thank you, so very, very, _very_ much," Nick cooed as he pulled a crisp ten out of his breast pocket. He held the folded money up to the elephant, who snatched it from his hand.   
  
"One small. Blueberry. In a _to go_ cup," Jumbeaux called over to the gentleman scooping out the enormous quantities of ice cream.   
  
Judy stood next to Nick as he patiently waited for his sample of goods from a shop she knew he'd visited a thousand times before. She didn't know if he'd ever eaten any of their ice cream, but he'd certainly consumed their popsicles and knew whether they were fraudulent or not; whatever that might mean. He didn't need to 'try out' the sweets. 

Yet, she didn't grab the back of his shirt and drag him from the counter. She waited beside him, thanking him privately for taking into consideration his strained uniform and only ordering a small. She assumed that he could stuff a couple bites of ice cream into his pants without causing the seams to pop. Maybe, to avoid bursting out of his clothes, Nick might even offer her a bite and she'd get to try what elephant ice cream tasted like.   
  
Then, she watched in semi-shock as the cafe employee scooped up one of the gigantic, bowling ball sized circles of bright blue ice cream and dropped it into a tub looking container. That seven, eight, ten even pounds of ice cream was slapped down on the counter in front of Nick. He greedily pulled it to the edge and tilted it into his arms with a soft noise. His arms shook and his knees trembled, but he happily winked at Jumbeaux and carried the tub past Judy's slack jawed expression. He was nearly to the door before she remembered they were leaving together. She sprang into action, pried the door open for him, and then followed his puffy tail out the door and into the heat. She gawked at Nick the entire short walk back to the squad car as he strained to carry his haul. She climbed into the driver's seat and watched as he shoved the bunny sized thing into his seat. He got in after it and settled in around it, his legs spread wide and his fat belly pressing into the side.   
  
"That's a _small_?!" Judy exclaimed once Nick had buckled his seat belt.   
  
"I knnnnnooooow. Elephants, am I right?" Nick laughed, prying the top of it off. He hungrily licked his lips and twirled a spoon she hadn't even seen him grab.   
  
"Nick! You can't eat that!"   
  
"Why not? I paid for it."   
  
"I mean, you can. Of course, you can. You paid for it," Judy stammered, her nose twitching and her eyes focusing on the struggling buttons to his uniform, "But, but you can't right now."   
  
"Oh, why? This?" Nick twisted one of the buttons slightly indented in the arch to his stomach. She jolted forward to stop him, though he merely laughed. Very causally, Nick undid the button, "They're buttons. They undo. That's their purpose, Carrots. To button. And to unbutton."   
  
Judy trembled when Nick started to undo the buttons. His belly poured forward two more inches, sagging over his bent belt. The white of his undershirt stretched dramatically, threatening to rise up and over the bulge to his middle. He sighed with relief, rubbing the side of his belly. His fingers sank in slightly. Judy swallowed a high pitched noise; her eyes fixated on all the weight he'd gobbled up in the past couple of hours. She gripped the steering wheel as he picked up the spoon and he sunk it into the brightly colored feast before him.   
  
Nick took a monstrous bite, bright blue smearing over his mouth. His cheeks swelled out, round and full, as he closed his eyes in one long, slow moan of gluttonous pleasure. He swallowed slowly, savoring every second, before he opened his eyes slightly. He crammed the spoon back into the container and scraped it across the foot wide top. A giant scoop of ice cream built up on the spoon and Nick opened his mouth as much as he could in order to shove the whole bit inside. His cheeks swelled, his eyes closed, and blue oozed down his chin from the half melted liquid dripping out of his hot mouth. His tail curled it's tip inward, then flicked back out, as he started to cram these enormous mouthfuls inside and more blue dripped down his white shirt and his orange wrists and matted his fur into clumps.   
  
Judy didn't get the car very far from Jumbeaux's shop before she couldn't focus on driving. She pulled into an alley way about one block over. Her entire body was numb and shivering as she watched Nick shovel the ice cream into his mouth. She turned off the engine just as she lost the ability to think of anything other than sitting against her door, her arms wrapped around her tiny body, and her wide eyes fixated on her boyfriend as he transformed from a wily fox into a fat one. 

  
It took Nick only nineteen minutes to consume the entire bunny sized tub of blueberry ice cream. He ate rapidly, as if he couldn't wait to get to the next bite and the one he was on was becoming increasingly inconvenient. He leaned forward, closer to the ice cream as it sank down the sides of the container until the bottom was scraped clean. Then, he dragged the spoon over every inch and sucked down the last bits of the frozen treat until there was absolutely nothing blue left in the white tub. Only then was it crushed and dropped down into the food wrapper graveyard around his ankles. Nick sucked on the matted fur of his wrists. He licked the front of his lightly blue tank top. He belched loudly and sank down in his seat, his legs spread and his tail drooped from exhaustion; the tip of his tail, the darker part, flicked aimlessly in pleasure. When he belched this time, he didn't bother to cover his mouth. He just belched, rubbed the sides of his belly, and let out a low moan that was a combination utter satisfaction and absolutely overwhelmed.   
  
Which was a similar combination to what Judy was experiencing in the seat beside him. She was frozen against her door, her hands pressed into it, with her knees pulled up. Her heart thundered in her chest; the sound bounced around her rib cage up to her bone straight ears. Her ears were tilted in Nick's direction, taking in all the wet smacking mouth sounds and deliriously moaned mmmm's that had filled up the car. Sweat matted her fur, making her body feel slick and drenched and cool, when she knew she was hot to the touch. Her chest danced with frantic, strangled breaths, while her eyes were pained from being so wide, so open, so focused for such an intense amount of time.   
  
She had taken in every swelling inch to Nick's oversized belly. It had been a good thing she mentioned his uniform, because he would have definitely torn open every last button, maybe even popped a seam or two, from the immense arch that rounded out from his gluttony. His stomach grew enormous. Simply enormous, wide and large, so much so that it crushed his belt down and rolled forward to rest on his plump thighs. His tank was stretched, riding up around the lower swell of his gut, while his pants had been unzipped and, eventually, his belt unfastened. Everything had been loosened and removed. Still, his stomach sagged forward and strained his pudgy body. Nick rubbed the sides, his fingers hardly indenting for the firmness, and he sank down, as if dragged down by the weight of his gorging.   
  
Nick exhaled slowly, his shoulders trembling, and his eyes growing heavily lidded. He shook his head and he tried to shift positions. When he groaned, one eye closing, though, Judy jumped over.   
  
"Don't," she commanded as she grabbed his shoulders. His body was warmed from the effort. She petted his cheek, her eyes softening while his drunkenly searched her face for instructions. Judy kissed his forehead, "Don't move, Nick."   
  
"Mmmm, Judy-"   
  
"It's okay. I've got you,"  
  
"I don't feel so good."   
  
Judy rolled her eyes as she sat down on the middle part between the two seats. She moved so that Nick could rest his head in her lap and he did just that. His ears tilted all the way back to his skull and a wrinkle appeared in his snout. He whimpered slightly, his eyes closing, and she cooed to him, "It's okay, you pig. I've got you."   
  
Nick belched in answer, his eyes opening a little. Then, moaning, he buried his face in her tiny waist and curved thighs. She gently stroked her fingers along the edges of his ears. Not only did doing so calm him down, but it caused his ears to flicker at the right spot. For a moment, Judy amused herself by flicking his ears several times. Nick mumbled into her legs, then belched and laughed sheepishly when he did.   
  
Judy smirked and teased, "You've gotten so round."   
  
"You, mmm, love it."   
  
"You didn't have to. . ." her voice trailed off as she stroked her thumb into his cheek and he let out a tiny, throaty whine, "Aw, Nicky, you're such a baby when you have a tummy ache."   
  
"B-bite me, Carrots."   
  
"Shhh, shhh, you." she covered his mouth with her tiny hand. She felt his teeth when he chuckled slightly. Her nose twitched and her fur fluffed, then she calmed down as she looked down at his tired expression. He nuzzled her inner thigh and she was compelled to pet the edge of his ear. It flicked and he belched, wrapping his arms around her legs.   
  
"Judy."   
  
"Yeah, Nick?"   
  
"I love you."   
  
Judy's ears shot straight up and she fidgeted, but that made him moan, so she switched to frozen. Nick squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in her thighs, so that his snout was against her inner thigh and his teeth were bared against her inseam. She rubbed one tiny hand in between his ears, over his forehead, where he got headaches when he ground his teeth together while listening to mindless chatter from witnesses. His ears relaxed and his body relaxed and his grip on her relaxed, but he didn't move away. His belly was so round, so large, so big, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He merely rested into her knees and moaned and belched and groaned and panted and whimpered while she alternating between stroking between his ears and rubbing his soft cheeks.   
  
Carefully, so as not to move her legs and nudge his bloated belly, Judy bent herself over his head. She caressed his shoulders and his upper back as she pushed her chest to his ears so he could hear nothing but the quick pace to her rabbit heart. He could hear what he had done to her frantic pulse and she could feel the weight beginning to soften his back into pliable handfuls she kneaded. She pawed his back and he nestled into her embrace.   
  
Judy ran one finger over the arch to his belly and softly smiled when he shivered, his tail instinctively wrapping around the massive arch to his waistline. Her heart quickened and she whispered, "I love you too, Nick. You stupid, fat fox." 


	5. Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick rests and Judy tries not to panic.

The squad car was a still, effortless quiet that breathed heavily over Judy's drooped ears and her twitching nose. She leaned sideways and backwards, into an awkward position, so that her back was against the driver's seat; for support. Her legs trembled a touch, from having been tucked into the same position for an hour. She ignored the random spurts of pain and the way her spine locked up. She didn't dare move, except to rest over Nick's ears every now and again. Doing so made him shift and whimper, as if he wanted to be closer to her. However, her back tightened after a while, so she would sit up, and eventually lean back, only to repeat the series of actions within ten minutes. She never made mention of her aching back or her numb butt or her trembling legs. Nick was comfortable, his head nestled in her thighs, and that was what mattered in those long, steady moments. He breathed comfortably. He was able to close his eyes and she was able to pet him and keep him from whimpering much. As long as that continued, Judy was fine bending and sitting up like a wind up doll.

An hour passed exactly like that. Judy sat back, her eyes watching as the clock ticked over to one sixteen in the afternoon. She ran one finger over the edge of Nick's ear. It flicked and he made a noise. Judy tilted her head to the side, observing as he shifted and his arms tightened around her hips. Then, she looked back at the squad car, and continued to absentmindedly pet her boyfriend's incredibly soft fluff.

Over the last sixty minutes, Nick's enormously swollen, overstuffed belly had decreased in size. Instead of being immensely wide and round, it was a bloated arch that stretched out his blue stained tank. It no longer rested on his thick thighs or strained his body from the weight of all that he'd eaten recently. It was still larger than normal, that was for certain. Yet, it didn't look painful; it didn't look engorged; it didn't look firm enough to stretch his skin. It was just a round bulge to Nick's soft and curvy body.

Because his belly had decreased in size, Judy was sure Nick didn't have a stomachache any more. She could shake his shoulders and tell him to sit up like a big boy and he would be absolutely fine. He'd probably yawn, declare her an excellent throw pillow, and ask where they were headed next. This wasn't the first time he'd slept in the squad car. He took naps on the arm rest quite frequently, in the early morning, when they were on patrol or heading to a lead in another district. Foxes were nocturnal creatures by nature. Nick consistently stayed up until three or four am, restless. He would curl around her desk chair, his tail flicking, ready to cause trouble, and behaving out of respect to his tired bunny girlfriend. Usually, he spent the night snapchatting and texting Finnick; occasionally, he would drink beer and watch movies with her headphones in. By morning, Judy would be bushy tailed and he would be yawning with tears in his eyes from his severe sleep deprivation. They compromised by him catching up on the sleep in the morning. She would rouse him when they got where they needed to go or she was finished running plates in parking lots. He'd yawn and clap his hands and ask 'where we going, Carrots' with a sly smile.

Since Nick was no longer about to burst from gluttonous overeating, Judy knew she could wake him. But, she didn't. She let him sleep. She stroked his ears and his pudgy cheeks and kneaded his soft shoulders and rubbed his forehead. She enjoyed the ripples that went over his snout every so often. She adored the way the tip of his tail would flick side to side. She relished in the fact that in an hour, he hadn't moved even a fraction away from her.

And then the radio crackled to life and Clawhauser's loud voice exploded in her face, saying, "Hopps, Wilde, location. Over."

Judy jerked forward, inadvertently crushing Nick's head between her waist and thighs. He grunted. He squirmed. She saw green eyes open wide as she snatched the radio and turned it on, saying, "Hopps here. Located on Trunk Lane, a block away from the last crime scene at Jumbeaux's Cafe. Over."

"There's been a report of suspicious activity at 1414 South Palm Aveune. Over."

"Roger. We're on it. Over," Judy excitedly answered as she cranked the key to rev the engine, when she caught sight of Nick shaking his head. Her body froze, "Are you-"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a rude awakening."

"You slept for an hour."

"Fascinating. Don't we have a job to do?" Nick coyly asked as he rubbed the side of his belly. Judy's nose twitched and she hesitated. He rolled his eyes and assured her, "I"m fine, Judy. Just a sugar coma. I'm fine. Really."

"You don't so-"

"Work trumps boyfriend's bellyache," Nick widened his eyes and motioned dramatically to the steering wheel. Judy's eyes darted to the steering wheel, then back to him.

"But, Nick-"

"Do you want me to drive?"

"You don't have a license."

Nick blinked slowly and then smiled widely, his tail flicking, "I never said that. Now, do you want me to drive or-"

"You mean to tell me I've been driving you around for a _year_ and you-"

"A store. Is possibly being robbed. Five blocks away."

Judy glared at Nick as she slammed her foot on the gas. Nick jerked backwards into his seat as she weaved out of the alley way, flicking on the siren. She tore through the lines of cars heading every which way, finding spots before they appeared. Nick gripped the arm rest with one hand and his bloated belly with the other. She left black skid marks on the street, then again when she skidded into a parking spot by the address they were given. Judy turned off the car, opened her door, and hopped out while Nick kicked open his door. As soon as they turned to face the location, however, both of them froze.

Big Pig's Bakery smiled down at them from it's location dead center in the bridal district of City Central. The bright pink shop was a two story ordeal, with massive front windows filled with ornate and fancy tiered wedding cakes of every taste and design, from a twenty layer traditional to a three layer modern circular one. Inside, they could see more and more and even more wedding cakes, regular cakes, pies, cookies, and every other sweet treat on display on glass shelves or in display cases. Yet, the windows were perfectly in tact. Not to mention it was mid day and no one appeared to be in distress. Nothing was out of order and no shop keep was screaming at them to chase down this or that described perp. Judy even looked around, but saw no one fleeing the scene with a duffel bag over their shoulders.

Judy crossed her arms over her chest, her foot thumping rapidly. She glared around them, before she jabbed her finger into Nick's round middle, "This is all your fault! If you hadn't teased Clawhauser, we wouldn't be here!"

"Me? He's been sending you to bridal shops for weeks!"

"Don't try to argue with me, Nick! I'm in no mood!"

Nick scoffed, "You? You weren't the one sleeping, thankyouverymuch."

Judy's ears shot up and turned in his direction. She cautiously rested a hand on the side of his large stomach. It was firm and swollen; almost heavy against her hand even from the side. She asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"You're still sick, aren't you?"

"What? No. I'm fine."

"Nick, whenever you say you're fine multiple times, it means you're lying," Judy sternly informed him. Nick yawned into the back of his hand, his gaze shifting to the bakery.

"I'm not sick," he said distractedly. His nose twitched. The tip of his tail flicked. He rubbed the side of his stomach. He shifted his weight from one wide hip to the next. His pupils dilated slightly whenever he looked up at the Big Pig 'open' sign. He licked his lips.

The color drained out of Judy's face when she realized what was wrong. She grabbed the edges of his unbuttoned police uniform and jerked him around to face the squad car. Nick snickered when her hands shook, her knuckles brushing the width of his belly.

"Nick," Judy winced when her voice shivered and trembled. He arched an eyebrow as a slow, slick-nick smile oozed over his mouth. She continued, "Get in the car. We're going back to the office."

"Orrrrr, we can go in and inquire about any threats that might have been made to the shop owner," Nick said, tugging his uniform from her hands. He side stepped her as he struggled to button it back up over his belly, "I mean, urgh, it is a bakery, after all,"

"You're not even in uniform anymore."

"Sure I am, Carrots."

Judy hopped in front of him and pushed her hands into his stomach. Nick groaned and covered his mouth with a fist as he belched. His ears slicked back while she smugly grinned. She gestured to the car, "No more food for you for a while."

"But I'm hungry."

"You're not hungry. You're just greedy."

Nick smiled and said, "I thought I was just being a pig."

"Nick!"

"What was it again, that you called me?" he drummed his fingers on his big belly, pretending he didn't know. Then, he snapped his fingers and pointed at Judy's flushed face, "That's right. A fat fox."

"I didn't mean-"

"Well, it's kinda true, isn't it?" Nick replied nonchalantly. He shrugged, "Like you said, I'm out of uniform."

"I didn't mean that you were-"

"I know you like it."

"Shut up!" Judy cried, her nose twitching and her heart jumping around her chest. Her eyes fixated on the curve to his waist anyways. She stomped one foot, wishing that she could have one moment of strength where she didn't stare at his gut. But, she didn't, and she exclaimed, "Fine! I like it! You're getting fat! I don't care but you've eaten enough. You were sick for an hour, Nick."

"Aw, I just ate too much too fast."

"No. You just ate too much," Judy said.

"I did not."

"Are you going to throw a temper tantrum about this?" she cooed with her own clever smirk appearing. Nick's ears flicked forward for a second, then he rolled his eyes and yawned into his hand.

"I don't throw temper tantrums, Rabbit."

"Just go curl up and sleep some more. I'm going to ask around, to see if anyone's heard anything. If you behave, I might get you a cupcake."

"Get me a half dozen and I'll sleep all day."

"You mean, so I can do all the work?" Judy shook her head, "I don't think so. You get a fox nap and a cupcake."

"And what do you get?"

"I get to watch you fox nap and eat a cupcake."

Nick sneered, "I knew you liked it."

"Yes, already. You were right. Now," Judy paused to steer him around the front of the squad car to his passenger door. She opened it and pointed at the seat with the food graveyard around the feet. Nick looked at it, then down at her. She sighed and nudged him slightly towards it, saying, "Get up there and sleep this off. You're useless when you eat too much."

"Oh, really?"

"Nick."

"I'm going. I'm going," he said, waving her off. He heaved himself onto the seat with some difficulty. Judy's heart splattered in her ears, telling her to grab his hips and push, but she didn't move. She watched, panicked, as he wiggled into the seat and slumped heavily onto the arm rest. His belly stuck out. He panted. His tail wrapped around his stomach. He moaned, and rolled his eyes, muttering, "I _am_ getting fat,"

"I'm going!"

"Wait. Judy," Nick said, reaching for her. She instinctively reached out and gripped his hand in hers. Her ears stood at attention, while his eased back and he relaxed in a semi-curled up position.

"Yes?"

"Nothing."

"You're getting real pathetic, Wilde."

He shrugged one shoulder absentmindedly as he closed his eyes, "Rub my ears, won't you? It helps put me to sleep."

"You've eaten so much, it won't be an issue to sleep."

"When you're done, can we do lunch?"

"Oh, for goodness sakes. Just go to sleep, you sad excuse for a cop," Judy said as she rubbed her fingers over his knuckles.

Exhaustion settled over Nick as he nodded, folding his free arm over the arm rest. He pushed his cheek into it, causing both to squish a touch. Judy eased her fingers away from his hand. He drew it back in, resting it over the arch to his round waistline. His tail curled about his fat hips. He laid there, comfortable and overfed, tired and tucked in. Judy felt her heart jolt with a lightning strike of excitement and confusion. She longed to hop in and rub his ears until he purred with delight; if foxes purred. But, instead, she slowly started to shut the door, when his lazy voice drifted over to her.

"Ask when they do inventory."

"What?"

"Inventory. Ask mmm when they do it."

"Inventory?" Judy repeated.

One of Nick's eyes just barely opened and he looked sideways at her, without moving at all. He mumbled, "Y'know, when they write down what they have in the store?"

"I know what it is. I grew up on a farm," Judy sharply said, before she softened her voice and asked, "Why?"

"Just a hunch."

"Care to share?"

"Judy. I'm _exhausted_ ," Nick whined, his eye closing tightly. Her ears perked up and her nose twitched roughly. He waved her off; somehow sensing the way she was looking at him; he could probably smell the concern. He assured her, "I'm fine. Just ate too much, like you said."

"Whenever you agree with me, it makes me nervous."

"Just hop along, Carrots."

"Does this have anything to do with why you pulled me out of Jumbeaux's shop so fast?" she questioned, climbing into the passenger side instead of leaving.

Nick's eyes opened half way as Judy shut the door, her hip already pushing against his despite them having been able to share a seat only a few months ago. She squished into the warm fat of his side and the round weight of his hip as she settled in beside the curve of his tail. Judy laid her tiny body over his side, preparing to wrap her arms around his upper waist and provide a nice blanket for him this time.

Before she could, Nick found the quick energy to overtake her. He buried his face into her shoulder, his belly pushing into her lap, and his legs wrapped around hers. His tail encircled her and he hugged her to his chest. His weight pinned her in place, heavy and hot. She felt his pulse quicken and his ears fluff against her cheek and his breathing evened out into calm, long draws. Judy weakly rubbed his belly, which caused him to whine. She placed her other hand on his head and he relaxed from the tip of his twitching nose to the tip of his twitching tail.

"Okay. Okay. I've got you. Goodness," Judy cooed, running a finger over the inside of his ear. Nick nuzzled his plump cheek against her neck. She chuckled, "My, you're cuddly today."

"I'm sick. I'm tired. I'm hungry. And you're warm."

"Oh, Nick. What's going on with you?"

He lightly shrugged, "You're doing this to me."

"What? I'm not doing anything to you. I'm not even the one feeding you."

"I think. I'm denning."

Judy tilted her head slightly, "Denning?"

"Oh. . .what's the word you prey use?" he mumbled. For a moment, he was quiet. Judy suspected that he might have fallen asleep. Then, his eyes opened a touch, just enough, and he whispered, "Domesticating."

All at once, Judy felt like Nick had kicked her off a skytram platform and down the fox hole without a lifeline. Her heart dropped into her stomach acid, where it was melted and burned from the shock of what he said. She may not have known the predator word 'denning', but she knew the prey word 'domesticating'. She'd heard about it vaguely in her childhood and in her teenage years and in the academy. But, she'd gotten a true lesson in what it meant three minutes after she'd introduced Nick to her parents a year beforehand. Instantly, she was transported to that awkward evening of frantic laughter and sour expressions as her fox-fearful family met the wily, smily Nick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter. It's been crazy at work recently. Thank you for all the kind comments and support.


	6. Domestic Disputes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One year earlier, Judy introduced Nick to her parents and learned about domesticating.

One Year Earlier

It started the way every trip to her parents' started: a long car ride out to the countryside of Bunny Burrow. Judy had borrowed one of her family's pick up trucks the weekend beforehand, when she had hopped the train out to see them. It was then that everything went downhill. Her mother mentioned that Nick never came with her. Her father panicked and asked if Nick didn't like them, because you know what foxes did to bunnies they didn't like; a thousand years ago, she had replied. Her mother suggested bringing him. Her father reluctantly agreed. Judy lied and said Nick didn't like the train; could have been true, seeing how she'd never seen him use it. Her mother had given her the keys to the truck and told her to tell Nick that he was more than welcomed to come to dinner next week. Judy nervously laughed, and figured she wouldn't mention it for a while. She needed to adjust to the idea of introducing her boyfriend to her parents. Of course, she got a phone call two minutes after she walked into her apartment. Nick had been laying on the bed, watching a crime drama movie, when her mother shouted she'd like him to come to dinner and he quickly assured her that he'd love to. And so, next Saturday, after their shift, Judy begrudgingly drove them out to the quiet hollow of Bunny Burrow.

Judy spent the long ride instructing Nick on how to act and how not to act and what to say and what not to say and to keep his comments to himself and god she was nervous. Nick absentmindedly listened. He assured her every so often he would be on his best behavior. She told him that wasn't good enough, because his best behavior was still naughty and nasty and not nice. She told him in no uncertain terms that her family had preconceived notions about foxes. To which Nick viciously replied, 'yeah, I figured you learned it somewhere'.

They spent the rest of the car ride in a dead silence. Judy gripped the steering wheel. Nick stared out the window. She wanted to apologize. He didn't want to hear it. She didn't. He didn't seem surprised.

Then, they turned into Bunny Burrow. His ears tilted upwards as he took in the scene. He previously confessed he hardly ever traveled outside of Zootopia. And by 'hardly ever', he meant he hadn't left the city in twenty odd years. He had never traveled to a prey filled community like her hometown, either, so it was quite the shock for him to see such squat buildings and carrot stands and animals mulling about in dirty overalls. He pressed his nose to the glass, his ears perked up and his eyes wide. He looked like he was trying to imagine Judy wearing overalls, a piece of straw in her mouth, and a hoe in her calloused hands. She let him have his imagination as she turned down this street and that street until her parents' home rose up over the hill with it's sprawling size and hundreds of gathered bunnies waving from the porch.

"I didn't know I was meeting your _whole_ family tonight! I would've worn a better tie!" Nick cried, staring at the hundreds of faces staring at the car as Judy slowly drove up.

"You're not. Those are just my siblings."

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Nope," Judy waved out the window as some of the smaller bunnies rushed the truck. Nick gawked at her, his ears slicked back. She snickered, "What? I told you bunnies were good at multiplying."

"Yeah, but this is . . . ." Nick's voice trailed off as Judy eased the truck to a stop.

"Oh, come on, Nick. They're just bunnies."

"You're just a bunny, but you're still the toughest animal I know," Nick muttered as he unbuckled his seat belt. Judy beamed sarcastically at him as she made quick work of opening her car door.

"Judy!" came the cry of dozens of little bunnies as they surrounded the car and reached for her. She climbed out, shouting a variety of names, and hugging them repeatedly.

While Judy was bombarded, Nick hesitantly got out of the car. He quietly shut the door behind him and walked around to be close to Judy. As soon as he did, however, her siblings stopped hugging her and stopped shouting her name. The majority of them stared at Nick as his ears slicked back and his tail fluffed up. Judy nervously laughed and motioned for Nick to come closer. He didn't move. One of her youngest sisters pointed at Nick and shouted, at the top of her little lungs, "FOX."

Before anything else could be said, Judy grabbed her sister's hand and squeezed it. In her most babyish voice, she said, "That's right, Lily! Nick _is_ a fox! Do you know what kind of fox he is?"

Lily hopped up and down as Nick's nose twitched. Then, Lily tried to point at him again, and Judy took that hand in hers as well. Lily shouted, "A RED fox!"

"That's right! He's a red fox!"

"Red foxes are the largest of the foxes!" Lily chimed back at her, her ears straight up and her eyes serious, like when she explained kindergarten school work to her parents.

"Yup. The largest. Do you know what else?" Judy asked. Lily shook her head and Judy held out her hand to Nick. She motioned for him to come over as she happily said, "Nick here is my boyfriend. He works with me at the ZPD and he lives with me at my apartment. Do you want to say hi to him?"

"Okay."

"Nick." Judy again motioned for him to come over. Nick stepped over to where Judy was. She placed her hand on his elbow and kept the other on Lily's shoulder. She introduced them, saying, "Lily, this is Nick. Nick, this is my little sister, Lily."

"Hi, Lily. That's a pretty name," Nick said, his voice a far cry from his normal snarky tone. He held out his hand to her.

Lily rocked back and forth on her heels, then held out her tiny hand. She shook hands with him as her nose twitched. When he shook her hand up and down, and didn't do anything vicious, though, Lily smiled. She threw her arms around his waist and squeezed, shouting, "It's nice to meet you, Nick the fox!"

"Oh. Um. Heh. It's nice to meet you, Lily the bunny," Nick said, chuckling as he rubbed Lily's shoulders. Judy beamed at the two of them, while the other siblings inched closer. Nick glanced around and smiled, "Hi, everyone."

From that moment on, Nick was introduced to all two hundred and seventy five of her siblings. Lily took over the introductions for Judy, telling everyone to say hi to Nick the Red Fox, the largest of the foxes, who lived with Judy in the big city and was a police officer too. Nick was ever the charmer. He went right along with Lily without ever telling her not to call him 'the Red Fox'. He didn't seem to mind the attention she brought to his foxiness. He seemed to enjoy it, actually, because Lily was so excited about knowing what he was and what classification he was to his own species.

The younger siblings all gawked at him before shaking his hand. The mid-siblings wanted to tease him about dating Judy. The older siblings shook his hand and asked him if he'd lived in the city all his life; what was it like; did he like the country. The oldest siblings, around or older than Judy's age, clapped him on the shoulder and asked about his career and what he did before he met Judy; they also teased him about settling for their sister; one older sister joked that he could find much better bunnies out there wink wink. No one said anything about him being a fox, other than Lily, who was thrilled about it.

Judy breathed a sigh of relief.

That is, until the line of her siblings ended with her parents' anxiously smiling faces. Mrs. Hopps had her hands clasped in front of her. Mr. Hopps had his thumbs hooked into the straps of his overalls. They had their ears perked up; their fur fluffed; their noses twitching in a panicked little spasm. They caught the other's eyes as the Hopps offspring wound out and Nick extended his hand to them.

This was not when they met him. Judy had introduced Nick to her parents when he helped her solve the case of the predators losing control all around Zootopia. But, that had been a quick, rushed explanation and name exchange. Partly because Judy and Nick were receiving their first medals of commendations and partly because Judy didn't know how else to introduce him except to say he was her partner in crime; he was so much more and she felt raw and exposed trying to say so without explaining the immense way he knocked her prejudiced walls down and helped her up again afterwards. So, she'd said something stupid about Nick being her partner, her friend, and he had tried to say something when they were dragged on stage. Judy had given her parents a thumbs up while Nick placed a hand on her shoulder. She'd meant that they were all good, that she was nervous, but it looked weird, as if she was trying to assure them that Nick was not, in fact, a flesh hungry creature.

In all truth, Judy didn't know why their first meeting had been so wrong. She knew that their opinion had changed; they were business partners with Gideon Grey, another red fox. Yet, she had panicked and seen in them the fox repellent bottle and nothing more. They had met, in the same sort of condition, on and off again for the duration of Nick's education at the police academy. Every time started with, 'you've met so-and-so' and ended a minute later.

Now, over a month after Nick had joined the force, two weeks after she introduced him to Gideon as her boyfriend, a week after he moved in, and the introductions were unfolding like a horror show. Judy felt as if her stomach was going to retch itself over their feet when Nick held out his hand to her mother.

"Hi. I think we've met, but I'm Nick Wilde, Judy's boyfriend," Nick said as Mrs. Hopps reached out and took his hand. They shook once, twice, and he smiled that slippery smile.

"I'm Bonnie. You can call me Bonnie. Oh, my, Judy's told us so much about you!" Mrs. Hopps exclaimed, cupping Nick's hand in hers, "Oh, dear, you're so sweet, to look after her. She told us all about how you took her around the city when she first got there. You were her first friend, you know, and I think that's just so swell. Thank you, sweetie."

"Uh, I. I don't know what to say," Nick answered, his eyes darting over to where Judy stood frozen at his side.

Judy cleared her throat, "Yup. That's right. Nick showed me all over. City Central and the Rain forest District and even Tundratown. Didn't you, Nick?"

"Yup. All over. It wasn't an inconvenience. If anything, I felt like I had to. Like I had no choice," Nick joked. Judy elbowed him in the side while she smiled at her parents. He grinned back and elbowed her in the shoulder. They glared at the other for a split second, then smiled simultaneously.

"Well, thank you for looking after our little girl," Mr. Hopps said, before he swallowed and held out his hand. Nick happily took it and shook it with a stupid foxy grin on his face. Mr. Hopps' ears tilted a little and he nervously continued, "I'm Stu Hopps. It's a pleasure, a real pleasure, to, uh, finally meet you. I mean, for more than two seconds."

"The pleasure is all mine, sir. I'm Nick Wilde."

"Wilde, huh? That's quite a fun name for, uh, a fox like yourself."

Judy shot her father a hard stare and whispered, " _Dad_ " at the same time her mother nudged her father in the side and hissed, " _Stu_."

Nick, however, just laughed and said, "Oh, yes. I've had plenty of fun with it."

"Ha ha. I bet. So, uh, how wild would you say you really are, though, eh, uh, Nick?" Mr. Hopps said, his voice taking on a semi-serious tone at the end. He wiggled his hand in the air, "Scale of one to ten, would you say?"

"Uh, y'know, probably a seven," Nick confidently said, his eyes wide and a wrinkle appearing in his snout whenever he spoke. He snapped his fingers, "Better make that an eight. Solid eight, for sure, sir."

Judy grimaced when her father's face fell. Mr. Hopps nervously replied, "Oh, yeah? You would?"

"He's kidding. He's such a kidder," Judy interrupted, grabbing hold of Nick's elbow. She glared up at him and repeated, "He's kidding."

"Yeah, I'm more of a te-"

"He's a three. On his worse day," Judy answered, talking over Nick's sarcastic patronizing quips. Nick gave her a sour look while she rubbed his back, "He's perfectly harmless. He's a police officer."

"That's right, Stu. Nick here is a police officer," Mrs. Hopps said.

"You work in the same department as Judy, don't you, son?" Mr. Hopps asked.

"Yes, sir."

Mr. Hopps nudged near Nick, and joked, "Wouldn't you be better suited for those uh white collar crimes? Fraud and robbery? Ha ha."

Nick smiled from ear to ear; a smile so wide and cheerful, it was almost frightening. He laughed, a barking sound, and he slapped his knee. He pointed at the bunny and excitedly said, "Ha! A fox in fraud! Why, I'd just be right at home, wouldn't I? I'll request a transfer right away, sir."

"Ha ha. Bet it'd be a great fit," Mr. Hopps laughed slightly, then frowned and glanced Nick up and down. He hesitated, then said, "You know, I wasn't sure about my Judy dating a fox."

" _Dad_!" Judy tried to interrupt, but her father held up his hand.

"Now, Jude, let me say this. Nick, I'll be honest with you. I wasn't that jazzed to find out my daughter was dating a fox," Mr. Hobbs said, seriously. Nick's smile softened and then faded away as the bunny continued to talk, "I used to think that you foxes were all shifty criminals who couldn't be trusted. I even thought you were dangerous."

"You don't say," Nick mumbled.

"But, Judy's told us a lot about you, and well, you seem like a really swell guy. You're good with the little ones. You can take a good ribbing," Mr. Hopps lightly and playfully punched Nick in the arm, "And Judy tells me you used to be an entrepreneur before you joined the force."

"Ha. You could say that."

"So, when I tell you that I'm still not jazzed about you dating my daughter, just know it has nothing to do with you being a fox," Mr. Hopps said, putting an arm around Nick. Nick's ears perked up. Mr. Hopps patted his arm, "It's because you're dating my little girl."

"Dad! I'm some little kit anymore!" Judy said, crossing her arms, "You don't have to threaten my boyfriend!"

"I'm not threatening."

"Dad-"

"Not threatening. In fact, Nick, how about you and me grab a beer before dinner?" Mr. Hopps steered Nick towards the family house. Nick shot a look backwards over at Judy and mouthed 'love you' as he was dragged quite forcibly into the house.

Judy watched his tail as it disappeared around the corner, her heart both thumping uncontrollably and not beating at all. She wasn't sure if her father was making light of the situation or trying to save face or if he had been just teasing Nick with his off collar, inappropriate jokes. She didn't know if her father was taking Nick to an isolated area in order to give him the third degree regarding who Nick was as an animal. She didn't even know if she trusted her father alone with Nick, especially if it revolved around lip loosening liquor. For all she knew, her father could say something truly awful and Nick could start snarling comments that would start an argument. However, her mother grabbed her elbow and held fast so the men folk could vanish into their man folk world where fathers bonded with their daughter's boyfriend by questioning them over drinks.

The only reason Judy didn't sprint after them was the overwhelmingly comforting fact that Nick was thick skinned and could dish as well as he could take. He could handle whatever was thrown at him. She knew that, unfortunately, from very personal experience. She also knew that her father meant well; he was misguided but never ill intentioned. Judy had faith that Nick knew that was well and wouldn't hold ignorance against him.

"Well, that went about as bad as expected," Judy said to her mother. Mrs. Hopps nodded, folding her hands in front of her.

There a steady moment of relative quiet as her siblings mulled about and headed inside for the approaching dinner. Then, Mrs. Hopps said, "Nick seems very sweet, honey."

"He really is."

"He's quite the looker too, isn't he?" Mrs. Hopps giggled.

"Mother!"

"What? I'm married, not dead, Judy. He's very cute," Mrs. Hopps said, sighing a little. She motioned to where he had been standing, "A little thin, though, don't you think? He's so skinny. You should learn to cook and make him some good old fashioned cooking. I'm sure he'd plump right up."

"Mom! There's nothing wrong with. He is not too thin. I can't believe you would. He's perfect just the way he is!" Judy argued, her nose twitching rapidly.

Mrs. Hopps waved her off, "I'm not saying he's not, dear. I'm just saying-"

"He's fine the way he is."

"Does he eat enough?" Mrs. Hopps asked, "I mean, is he getting enough to eat?"

"Mom. He lives with me. I don't starve him. He eats plenty."

"I just didn't think he'd be so skinny."

"You've met him before. He was skinny then too," Judy reminded her.

Mrs. Hopps nodded, dusting a corner of her shirt, before she said, "I know. I just thought that he would have put on some weight by now."

"'Put on some weight by now'? Why? Because he's a cop and eats doughnuts all day?"

"No. It's just. He's a city boy and I know a lot of them are thin, but you said he'd been with you for a month now, and well," Mrs. Hopps sighed, "Well, I thought he'd put on some weight, is all. Eating three square meals a day with an old fashioned country girl."

"Old fashioned country- Mom, I'm not some housewife who makes him giant casseroles all night for him to eat," Judy said, her nose twitching and her fur fluffing and her ears tilting backwards.

"I'm not saying that."

Judy rolled her eyes dramatically, exhaling a slow, low breath. She calmly asked, "Why are you so hung up on this?"

"Well. I just thought," Mrs. Hopps paused, touching her lips with one finger. After a shoft tense pause, she sighed and quickly said, "I heard that when predators date prey, they domesticate."

"Domesticate?"

"You know, begin domesticating? They become more like prey. Gentler. Softer. They nest and settle down and become good husbands and wives. Like, more like, they tone down their more, um, active traits," Mrs. Hopps delicately said, smoothing her hands down the front of her blouse. Judy stared at her for a long second, before Mrs. Hopps continued, "And I heard that they fatten up some. Their metabolism slows down and they put on weight."

"And you, what? Thought Nick was domesticating?"

"Well, you said he was sweet and I thought maybe you had an influence on him."

Judy was tempted to laugh. Instead, she shook her head and explained, "No, Mom. Nick's not domesticated or domesticating. He's just a nice animal. He's lazy and silly and sweet and he doesn't need to domesticate to be those things."

"I'm not saying that, Judy."

"Nick's just that kind of animal."

"I know. I'm not saying that."

"Then what are you saying?" Judy asked, putting her hands on her hips, "You thought he'd be heavier because you thought he was domesticating. Clearly you thought something."

"It's not a bad thing, honey. I just heard it was a sign they were ready to have children."

At the word 'children', Judy choked and smacked herself in the chest. She sputtered and stammered, trying to explain that she was not even remotely ready to have children of her own yet. She tried to say she hadn't been dating Nick but a month. She tried to say she had never talked to Nick about them having children. She tried to say she didn't even know if Nick wanted children; if she wanted children. She tried, but all that came out was a shrill whimper. Her ears drooped down and her nose spasmed and her heart pounded in her eardrums. Her mother laughed and hugged her, saying that she knew those days were in the future.

"I wasn't trying to scare you, honey. I was just pointing it out, because I know you like this boy," Mrs. Hopps shrugged, "And if foxes do domesticate, then you'll know right away when he's ready to marry and mate."

"Oh goodness, Mom! Don't say such things!" Judy pleaded as she quickly hugged her mother. Judy rubbed her arms and said, "And if Nick gets fat, it's because he's a pig; not because he's domesticating."

"Big eater, huh?"

"Kind of," Judy nervously looked around, before she halfway whispered, "He sort of eats all day long. He's a gazer."

"Oh. Mmm-hmm," Mrs. Hopps nodded empathically, "I hear they gain weight later in life, too."

"Oh, god, Mom! What is it with you tonight?"

"I'm sorry, honey. He's just so-"

"He's not as thin as you think he is. Trust me," Judy said, snickering to herself as a sudden image of her bottom heavy boyfriend's round hips and large butt came to mind; stretched out on her bed sheets, wearing a black tee shirt and blue boxers and laying on his belly, his tail flicking around as he talked to her about nothing important while she stared at his curvy backside. She didn't elaborate for her mother. She grasped her mom's hands and squeezed them, "I like Nick, a lot. He's a big eater and he's skinny and he's sarcastic and he's a fox. But I like that."

"I know that, sweetie. I'm happy for you."

"Buuut-?"

"But, I heard from a lot of reliable sources that foxes domesticate in relationships, especially with prey," Mrs. Hopps gently rested her hand on Judy's and said, "I just want you to be prepared, in case he does."

"In case he what? He gets obsessed with nesting? He hoards toys for our future kids? He gets more anti social or more social? He gets fat?" Judy laughed out loud, hands on her hips, "I don't care about any of that. As long as he's still my Nick, then it doesn't matter."

"If that's how you feel, then I'm insisting he eat seconds. He needs to put on some weight. . .

"Oh, Mom. He does not."

"He'll look good with some weight on him."

Judy rolled her eyes as some furry, blurry image from her memory lingered around the edges of her eyes. Black tee shirt. Blue boxers. Fluffy tail. Warm eyes. Wet mouth. Blueberry stains. Messy sheets. Her knees, his thighs, her bed, his gasps, her mouth, his spasms, her hands finding all his favorite spots as he grabbed the sheets. Her whispers. His screaming. Her name. Her kissing. His swollen belly. Her pinning her predator to the bed and kissing him into submission while he whimpered for her to give him more. Her greedy fox. His lustful bunny.

Then, Judy smiled, her body fluffed, and she calmly told her mother, "Nick looks good no matter what. Like you said, he's very. . . cute."

"He certainly is."

"And he doesn't need to domesticate to be cute."

The conversation ended there. Mrs. Hopps solemnly nodded and headed inside in order to set the table for dinner. Judy hung around for a minute, calming herself back down. Then, she slipped inside, rescued Nick from her father asking questions about his former start-up business, and given Nick the grand tour of the house she'd grown up in. They ate dinner, Nick gobbled up the seconds her mother insisted he accept, and they even stayed for some wine on the porch, watching the fireflies. They left, with one leftovers container, and driven back home laughing and teasing the other about the evening.

By the time they got back home, Judy had put the entire talk about domesticating out of her mind. Foxes didn't domesticate. That was just some backwards thinking to describe what were naturally sweet and kind, albeit frustrating and annoying, foxes. She never gave it any thought again, even as Nick plumped up over the upcoming months. She needed a real explanation at first. Hibernation? No. Holidays? No. Overeating all day because he was a gluttonous pig? Yup. Nick was letting himself go. He was in his mid thirties and with the bunny he loved. What did he care? He wasn't on his feet all day. He lounged around her apartment, eating some blueberries and a piece of cake and half a sandwich in the course of an hour. The weight built up and curved him out and Judy didn't think anything about it other than she liked what it was doing to his tight shirts and round butt.

But he wasn't domesticating. Because domesticating wasn't real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely feedback, comments, and kudos. I truly appreciate it. I hope you all enjoy what's to come. Thank you again for your support.


	7. Fox Denning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eleven years ago, Nick and Finnick robbed an ice cream shop and hatched a familiar scheme. . .

Eleven Years Ago

The park on Trunk Lane was basically a parking lot for fatass animals who couldn't make the walk from one side of the street to the next, so the city had put in benches and planted trees and made it into something to see. Only, it wasn't. It was like most of Zootopia's little hole in the wall spots: pretty from far away and ugly up close, a trash littered eye sore. It wasn't used much and it wasn't crowded much and every animal who planted themselves down in it was some rhino or elephant who ate too much at the enormous ice cream parlor next door. As such, they were tired and winded and didn't care at all when two foxes ran break neck speed from the back door to Jumbeaux's and through the park, screaming 'go go go faster' and 'don't look back you dumbass' and 'holy shit watch where you're going fuckhead' with bags of stolen cash and goods in their hands.

Nick lead the pack, one bag in his hand, and another duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He darted out that back door so fast, he thought he'd go through it, when he caught it with his arm and was suddenly in the bright sunlight of late afternoon. He was laughing hysterically. He just couldn't believe they had pulled off this idiotic, chance of a moment scheme. He ran into the park, which was their agreed upon pathway, screaming for his partner to keep up.

Finnick was right behind him, a bag wrapped around his neck and shoulder, his eyes narrowed. He shouted for Nick to watch where he was going. Finnick wasn't laughing, but he had a stupid, wide smile on his tiny face as he barrelled out of the back door on Nick's tail. He kept pace with him as they sprinted through the little park.

Nick didn't know where the van was parked, because he had the worse sense of direction when hyped up on adrenaline. He knew it was parked somewhere in some alley, but it all looked the same when running. He laughed and screamed that he didn't know where to go, turning to where Finnick was glaring at him. Finnick took the lead, mouthing some obscenity that made Nick 'ooooh' at him. They twisted through the park, around one tree, down an alleyway, down another, and then Finnick's orange-reddish van came into view. Finnick tossed the back door key to Nick, who caught it mid air. While Finnick unlocked the front and hopped in, Nick undid the back and tossed their haul inside. He jumped inside, banged the doors shut, and Finnick slammed his foot down on the gas.

The van backfired, then burst out onto the street, heading in the opposite direction of a ZPD squad car that rounded the corner for Jumbeaux's Cafe to respond to the robbery. Finnick and Nick grinned to one another as they entered regular traffic and disappeared from all prying eyes.

Nick slumped backwards against the wall of the van. The back of Finnick's van was heavily decorated, since it was where Finnick lived. There was a small sized mattress fastened down in one corner, with two tiny bean bag chairs and one regular sized one, which was a bright cherry red and spray painted with an 'X'. Strapped to the wall were other things that Finnick needed to survive, including a hot plate, a skillet, swiped clothing from all kinds of underground shops, a 'water pipe', and stolen goods not yet sold on the corner of some street. The rest of the place was empty space deemed for more stolen goods, for foxy dames that spent the night, and, more often then the previous two, for whenever Nick crawled into the back of the van late at night, when it was cold, when it was raining, when Finnick drove by an alleyway and saw Nick warming his hands over a barrel on fire and shouted for him to get his scrawny tail in the van for some food and shelter.

Which was precisely the reason they had ended up at Jumbeaux's Cafe earlier. Nick had spent the better part of the week sleeping underneath a bridge out in the sticks, his shirt and tail providing the only warmth during the cooling nights. He slept in what was constituting as his house these days; an old refrigerator box he'd lined with newspapers. He's eaten nothing but a handful of blueberries and had wandered into City Central to panhandle for change so he could buy himself a grilled cheese. He'd had little luck. The panhandling business was mostly for youths, disables, and the elderly. At nineteen, Nick had outgrown his ability to score hundreds of dollars with the 'I'm homeless Feed Me' bit. Animals were willing to drop hard cash into his hand when he was thirteen and soft cheeked and wide eyed. Now, he was an average fox hustler and no one believed he needed the money. Ironically, he hadn't needed it when he was thirteen and living at home but he needed it now and was homeless. But, he knew the bit was dead, and he accepted it.

After an hour, he laid down on a park bench on Trunk Lane and took to watching a family of hippos greedily eat ice creams that were bigger than his head. He was dressed in a ratty black tee shirt and torn up jeans, which he'd worn straight for eleven weeks without washing, and the family kept giving him looks. He figured they either A) could smell him because he knew he reeked or B) could see that he was a dirty faced fox boy or C) a lovely combination of the two. He kept watching them, though, laying with his hands folded over his narrow waist and his head tilted backwards to stare at them. He wasn't trying to hide that he was watching them. He was actually hoping they'd say something so he could laugh and tell them they were paranoid; he wasn't watching them just because he was a fox.

Then, he'd heard a gruff voice shout, "Nick!"

His ears perked up and he looked between his knees to where Finnick was standing. Nick smiled from ear to ear, "Hey, Finnick! What brings you to this part of town?"

"I'm was doing a job. Man, you smell like a dead animal."

"It's my clothes."

"No, it's you. What you been doing?" Finnick asked, propping his elbow up on Nick's knee. Nick shrugged, tilting his head backwards again, but the hippo family had already left. He frowned.

"Not much."

"You got the afternoon free?"

"Sure," Nick absentmindedly said as he searched the streets for the hippos waddling away. He didn't see them, though, so he folded his arms underneath his head and smiled at Finnick, "What did you have in mind?"

"Buddy of mine and me were gonna hit up the boardwalk and beg for some money."

"I already did my street begging and I got two dollars in spare change," Nick said, his smile disappearing. He waved Finnick off, "Pass."

"Well, Duke blew me off, so how about we do whatever the fuck you were gonna do?" Finnick said sharply, glaring down at Nick.

Nick shrugged, "I don't have anything in the works right now."

"What happened to all your plans for showing the 'man' about us foxes?"

"How about you buy me lunch and I'll tell you all about it, Finny?"

"I ain't buyin' you shit."

"I was thinkin' about walking over to the DMV," Nick said as he yawned into the back of his hand, "See ole Flash."

"You mean meet him for his lunch break and bum a meal off him."

"Hey, it's not all about the free food. I like him. Flash is fun," Nick said as he stretched slightly and looked up at the sun that smiled back down at him. He yawned again and mumbled, "Or I'll stay here and sunbathe until the cops show up and kick me out."

"You're gonna make a pretty corpse onna these days, Wilde."

"Yup. Bring flowers to my funeral, won't you?"

"I ain't bringing nothing to your funeral 'cept a check for all the shit you've stolen from me," Finnick said as he pushed himself off Nick's knee. Nick snickered while Finnick hopped down from the bench. Finnick flipped out his shades and put them on, patting Nick's thigh, "I'mma be at the boardwalk in the Rainforest District."

"'Kay."

"I'mma swing by here tonight. 'Posed to get a frost. I'll pick you up."

"Awww, Finny. You don't want me to freeze?"

"Nah," Finnick flipped out a cigarette and lit it. He took a drag, then handed it to Nick, who put it in his mouth. Finnick rubbed Nick's thigh, then let go, saying, "Ciao."

"Ciao."

Finnick and Nick bumped fists before Finnick stuck his hands into his pockets. Nick took a drag on the cigarette, tasted the warm chemicals as they drifted over his tongue and into his empty stomach. He listened to Finnick's nearly silent footsteps as he walked off to where ever he had parked his van. Nick watched hippo and rhino families as they waddled in and out Jumbeaux's Cafe. He watched their enormous bellies shift and jiggle as they struggled to get the heavy doors open and he watched their bloated, massive waistlines when they huffed and puffed their way back to their cars. He heard Finnick curse at someone for nearly stepping on him, then everything faded away as a large, white truck pulled up on the back street.

It was labeled 'Blue Cow Creamery'. As soon as it pulled up, a worker climbed out of the back and knocked on the wall; well, he assumed it was a back door into the park/alleyway, since all restrurants had one. An elephant dressed in a white and pink stripped apron joined the Creamery employee outside. They exchanged paperwork for the delivery, and then the elephant propped the door open with a box of something. They started to unload the fresh milk, cream, and other dairy products by taking them off the truck with a dolly and disappearing for a long amount of time; the door left open the entire time.

Slowly, Nick had sat up and reached to the side to where he thought Finnick was. He shouted over his shoulder, "Finnick! Finnick! Finnick, c'mere! C'mere quick!"

In a matter of minutes, Nick and Finnick were crouched down against the wall around the corner from the door left open to intruders like themselves. Nick had pointed out the sitting duck to Finnick and they had swiftly exchanged important details on who was doing what, the items they wanted to grab, and where Finnick's van was located. Then, Nick pointed to himself and motioned he was going in first, then he'd whistle like a bird if the coast was clear, and Finnick would come in after him; Finnick had two prior collars for petty theft and burglary, but Nick had only been popped once as a juvenile, so Nick always went first in their joint ventures. When the employees had taken in the next batch of cream, Nick crawled on all fours around the corner and into the ice cold back room of the massive parlor. He slipped immediately behind the door, looked around, and saw the freezer was opened. He whistled, then slammed the freezer door shut with the employees inside, and locked it.

The heist was a frantic, panicked sort of organized mess that made Nick laugh out loud and Finnick snarl to be quiet. They had three bags from Finnick's van that Finnick had been hiding in a trash can for the heist that got blown earlier by his partner not showing up. Nick had two bags and his job was to grab as many supplies as he could that they could later resell; or, since Nick was a starving half-kit living in a box under a bridge, that Nick could eat. Finnick had one bag and his job was to find the safe and get whatever cash he could. Nick grabbed cream bottles, flour, eggs, an small ice cream maker, silverware, dishes, and pre-wrapped boxes full of sandwiches and cakes. Finnick grabbed a stack of employee paychecks, a stack of the day's lunch haul, and a sheet cake that he crammed into the bag. Then, there was banging on the locked door, a massive elephant screamed for someone to call the cops, and they burst through the door into the sunlight. Nick's shoulder slammed into the door and he lead the spastic run from the crime scene back into the park.

They made it to the van and made their get away without detection. All anyone knew was that two foxes, one a skinny red and one a chubby Fennec, had robbed Jumbeaux's Cafe. It was the first time they had ever robbed that particular shop, but it would not be the last.

Afterwards, Nick slumped back into the van wall and looked at their haul. It wasn't much, but it was enough. Food, paychecks, four hundred cash, and some supplies they might be able to hock for a small penny.

Nick shrugged and opened up one of the cake boxes. He took a huge bite out of it. Just opened his mouth and took a bite. Frosting smeared over his snout and his cheeks, but he laughed and gobbled up the rest of the cake. He wiped the frosting off, sucked it into his mouth, and started in on the sheet cake from Finnick's bag. Nick broke off four inch pieces and crammed them into his mouth one by one, until the whole sheet was devoured. He licked the bent cardboard of the delicious butter-creme frosting before he moved into the assortment of smaller cakes and pre-packaged lunch sandwiches. He ate them whole, his cheeks swelling, and his stomach protesting the sudden onslaught of rich food. The containers built up around him as he ate red velvet, strawberry creme, tomato on rye, avocado with spinach, and mozzarella with pesto, all of them more divine than the one before it. He ate them rapidly, eating ravenously, until he polished off the last, enormously fat triple cheese and extra mayo number. He belched into his hands, choked it down, and tossed the container to the side. He licked the mayo from his claws as Finnick asked what they'd gotten.

"Mmmmm, some money, paychecks we can cash," Nick paused to lift up the remains of their haul to see what they had, "And some cooking junk we can sell."

"And the food? Can we sell any of it?"

"Uhhh. . . ." Nick belched loudly, covered his mouth, and rested a hand on his bloated belly.

There was a long stretch of silence, before Finnick's head slowly turned to look into the back of his van. Nick sheepishly smiled from where he was laying on his back, surrounded by the empty containers of food. He tried to suck in his gut, but it was swollen, and bulged out underneath his ratty tee shirt anyways. He belched again, his ears tilting backwards slightly, and the tip of his tail flicking from side to side. Just as slowly, Finnick's head turned back to the road, as his gigantic ears slicked back to his skull.

"I hate you, Nicholas P. Wilde."

Nick snickered, dragging his round body over to the red bean bag chair. He settled into the X, which fit his narrow butt perfectly, seeing how it was his chair. Nick fished around for Finnick's stash of cigarettes and found a couple of blunts taped to the underside of a shelf. He lit one with a lighter he kept in his back pocket. As he took in a drag, he settled into the squishy embrace of the chair and drummed his fingers on his belly.

"You know you love me," Nick said teasingly.

"You say that again and you can get the fuck outta my van."

"Can I stay for a while?" Nick asked instead, exhaling a cloud of smoke overhead. Finnick grunted and Nick yawned lazily, "Thanks, buddy. I owe you one."

"You owe me three! One, for eating all the goddamn food! Two, for staying at my place and never giving me so much as a dime for gas money! And three, for smoking all my damn weed!" Finnick shouted, banging his hands on the steering wheel.

"Okay, so I owe you three."

"You better have some idear how to pay me back, Nicky," Finnick growled as he turned into an alley way several streets from the crime scene.

It was a deserted little nook where Finnick often set up shop for the evening. Though it was only late afternoon, he didn't drive them out to any of their usual hit points for a job. They'd scored plenty of cash for the day, plus they both knew Nick was going to take a nap, snoring loudly and drooling, since he'd eaten a weeks worth of food in a few minutes. So, instead of heading onto one of the highways leading to another district, Finnick parked in his usual spot, and he hopped over the back of the seat into his living room.

Finnick dropped down into one of the other bean bag chairs and held out his tiny hand for the blunt. Nick handed it to him as he exhaled a cloud. Finnick took a heavy drag while Nick drew circles in the smoke.

"I'm not made for this whole heist stuff, Finny," Nick mumbled as he drew a heart. Finnick arched an eyebrow as Nick continued, "I need a better game."

"Yeah? What you gonna do? Get a _job_?"

"No. God, no. I'm not cut out for work either," Nick shook his head and stretched his arms over his head. He stared up at the ceiling for a long moment, then glanced around at the supplies scattered among the food containers. He picked one of the cake boxes up and tilted it to the side. Dreamily, he said, "I'm thinking we need a long term con. Something steady, with good pay."

"There ain't no such thing."

"Sure there is. We just have to be smart about it."

"I'm supposed to take con advice from a homeless kit?" Finnick joked, snorting out some of the smoke he had inhaled.

Nick frowned for a second, before he held up the crushed, see through plastic box to his eye. He peered through it at Finnick, "I've got a plan."

"Does it involve you livin' in my van, eatin' my food, and gettin' fat?"

"Well, it does involve me living here for a while, but I don't plan on getting fat," Nick twisted the plastic, as if he were peering through a telescope. Finnick smirked and Nick grinned, "But, you're the one who lets me den whenever I'm over."

"I don't let you den, kid. You just do it."

"I'm a lover, not a fighter, Finnick."

Finnick barked out a laugh, before he burned out the spent blunt. He leaned over and pushed a finger into Nick's swollen belly. He teased, "You need to get a place of your own and settle in, or else you're just going to get fat and lazy."

"I thought I got fat and lazy whenever I had a place to settle in."

"That's why you need your own place."

"Ooooh, so you just don't want me fat and lazy in your place. Okay."

"Last time you stayed here, you made a damn nest in the corner and slept for four days straight. You gained ten pounds in ten days," Finnick reminded him as he jiggled Nick's belly. Nick whined and shoved his hands away from him, which made Finnick bark another laugh in his face, "You're like a freaking vixen."

"I can't help it, Finny. It's so cozy in here."

"You gonna have a litter this time?"

"Shut up," Nick mumbled, yawning loud enough that he made a throaty noise. Finnick kicked him in the knee and he kicked him back, saying, "I remember you got pretty fat when you got this damn van."

"Don't go there."

"Awww, why not? Don't you like to reminiscence about your own denning?"

"I said, don't go there, Nick."

Nick waved him off, rubbing the side of his bulging waist. He absentmindedly said, "Alright, alright. I won't mention it. Though it was wo-"

"I can throw you out of this van," Finnick warned.

"Can you?" Nick teased, slumping like dead weight over his bean bag chair. Doing so caused his round gut to stick out some more and he rubbed it with both hands, "I'm not a skinny little kit anymore."

"Yer still skinny, Wilde. You've just got a fat gut."

"Ah, what can you do?" Nick shrugged, yawning into his shoulder.

Finnick rolled his eyes and lit another blunt, before asking, "So, what's the plan?"

"What plan?"

"The long term con plan you so damn proud of. The one that requires you to live in my van, denning all over the place like you own the joint," Finnick said pointedly.

"Well, uh, it's gonna require a steady address and it's gonna take some time to put together, but when I'm done, we might actually be readily employed con artists, my little friend," Nick mumbled as he tossed the plastic container to the side and closed his eyes, "But, the money will be good."

"Yeah, I'll bet it is. How much a cut will I get?"

"That depends. . . on how much. . . you're willing to do. . ."

"Fifty percent."

"Forty."

Finnick rolled his eyes, and said, "Fifty."

"Forty."

"Forty-five."

"Forty-five and I get to stay here until I find a place to live," Nick said dreamily.

"Fifty and you get to stay here until you find a place," Finnick countered.

"Fifty and I get to live here and forty when I leave."

Finnick shook his head, "Fifty and forty-five when you leave, but I'll let you den here without fighting you about it."

"Fifty and forty-five, if I den. Fifty and forty if I don't."

Finnick let out a barking laugh as he grabbed Nick's hand while Nick's breathing began to even out, saying loudly, "Fifty and forty-five, it is, Wilde."

"Mmmm, sounds good. I'll tell you. . . all about it later."

With that final agreement, Nick slipped down an inch in the bean bag chair and into the his own personal slumberland. Finnick took a drag on his blunt and exhaled a circle of smoke around Nick's dirty face. He snickered to himself as he started to count the money they'd managed to get out of the safe. He knew that whatever plan Nick had in the works would pay off. The only reason he continued to do business with the wily Nick Wilde was because the kit managed to come up with impressive schemes that usually paid out fat dollars. The exchange was having to put up with Nick's untrusting nature, his penchant for disappearing in the middle of the night with half the belongings in the van, and his unnatural desire to den where ever he lived.

Foxes certainly did den. It was common whenever a fox moved into a permanent residence for the first time. They put things in their place and they began denning. It was a process that lasted six months to a year, depending on the fox and their needs. Finnick had denned when he moved into his van some years ago. Foxes he knew had denned when they found apartments or alleyways or nooks to call their own. Nick denned whenever he was allowed to slip inside the van for more than two evenings. They all did it. They needed to fill the space with their scent, with their things, with their fat, so that it reminded them of home and they could relax. Most foxes denned by decorating, eating until they were round, and sleeping for on and off for several weeks after they had reached their peak weight; whenever that was for the individual fox. Then, they would resume normal life, drop the weight, and stay denned until they were ousted by an outside force.

Finnick didn't know what made foxes den. He didn't know and he didn't care. He had his own mobile den and he shared it with Nick whenever the kit was down on his luck. Nick had never denned when they first met. He'd had a nasty childhood experience that made him flighty and nasty tempered. He'd run away from home at fifteen, lived in a shelter for a few weeks, and then wound up on the street, his thumb stuck out in the pouring rain when Finnick found the drowned thing. He'd taken Nick in and overnight, Nick had denned in the smallest corner of the rusted car they stayed in, his tail wrapped around his skinny body and his fur fluffed. It took Finnick three weeks to pull the little kit from the back of the car, because Nick didn't want to leave his first den. He'd ultimately left him there and let him get fat off scraps, then tied a rope to his tail and dragged him out of the filthy place, scratching and hissing.

After that, Finnick made sure to set Nick up in safer places to den until the kit grew up enough to learn how to pick a den for himself. It took a two years for the kit to figure out what to do, but, even then, it was strange behavior. Finnick didn't know why Nick denned the way he did, but he denned quick and hard and then ran away like he didn't like the den anymore. He'd fatten up, wiggle out the door, and vanish into some box under a bridge or underneath an abandoned warehouse until he was ready to socialize again. It was how Nick was. He didn't know how to properly den and Finnick didn't know how to teach him.

Finnick had thought Nick had learned something when he got his van. Finnick had denned, hard, for the place and he allowed Nick to stay with him during the end of it. Nick had sniffed him, curled up beside him, and slept with the tip of his tail twitchy, like he understood. Then, he plumped up, slipped out one night when they were sleeping, and went right back to not denning and then over denning and then running. Finnick didn't try to teach him after that. He figured Nick would settle down when he was ready.

Snickering, Finnick reached over and rubbed Nick's cheek while the kit snored. He rubbed his ears and muttered, "You're gonna den hard one day, kid, and I can't _wait_."

He barked out a laugh as he rubbed the side of Nick's swollen belly as the sun set on their last day as petty spur of the moment criminals. By morning, their lives would take a much different route, with pretty schemes of licenses, purple elephants, and pawpsicles. But for the evening, Finnick smoked pot while counting money and Nick slept with the rest of their haul in his big belly in their smoky foxy den parked on the side of some forgotten corner of the animal kingdom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Foxes actually do den, but they don't gain weight. But, they really do make dens and mark it with their scent and won't leave it unless they are forced out. And I personally think that's very cute.


	8. Definitions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Judy and Nick discuss the difference between domesticating and denning.

The hazy corners of dim alleyways were not the image that Judy had in her mind when the word domesticating was whined into her ear. Her word wasn't racing through a park, through the years, through the memories, to a red van parked elsewhere amidst youthful misadventures. Her word was laced into cheesy eggplant casserole, served fat slice by fat slice, to a red fox with his big, round butt parked next to her in a suddenly smothered squad car. Judy saw the evening with her parents. She saw the double dishes and she saw her mother's encouraging smile and she saw her siblings giggling into their tiny hands and she saw her father standing underneath the tree with a cigar in one hand and she saw her boyfriend gobbling up a rabbit sized container of blueberry ice cream in nineteen minutes until his already plump belly was an enormous swollen ball. She saw wedding rings and wedding cake and wedding weight and wedding nights. She saw all this speed pass her eyes like the ending reel to one's life.

And she reacted accordingly. At first, her body was frozen underneath the inferno of Nick's soft, squishy weight. He breathed heavily; his every breath licking over her neck, down her shoulders, where it melted like snow, running like liquid heat over her spine to her little tail. He held onto her with hands that gripped her uniform, hard and rough. When she was frozen, she was buried in that heat, in those breaths, in his weight, in his strong hands. Then, her rabbit heart quickened and bolted to life, jolting her muscles into an automatic response. Judy went to shove Nick off her, but she touched his belly and he whined. She froze and unfroze all over again. Instead, this time, she recoiled. She jerked backwards, which caused Nick to drop down her shoulder, so that his plump cheek was smoshed in her chest.

Nick's tired eyes opened slightly as his ear flicked. He exhaustively whispered, "Why's your heart beating so fast?"

"Domesticating is _real?!_ " Judy shrieked in answer.

"What?" he asked, slowly heaving himself a few inches off her in order to give her a quizzical look.

Normally, the way he was looking at her would make Judy grab hold of her expressions in order to appear in control. She wasn't the type of animal to panic in front of others, including Nick. However, she was unable to. Her heart spasmed inside her rib cage; bouncing from one rib to the next in a painful attempt to escape. Her ears were straight up, twitching from their over straightness, and her nose was twitching exactly the same way. Her hands shook, her body trembled, and the panic spilled into her voice, cracking and breaking it like cheap glass.

"I didn't know domesticating was real! Domesticating is just some urban myth made up by bunnies and sheep and and and and other farm animals!" Judy screamed at Nick's suddenly shocked face. She grabbed his shoulders, hard, and squeezed, screeching, "Domesticating can't be real! You're just making fun of me, right?! Tell me you're just making fun of me, Nick!"

"What? No," Nick said cautiously, his ears perking up, "I'm not-"

"Yes, you are! Because domesticating is not real and foxes do not domesticate!"

"Um, yes-"

"No!" Judy shook Nick roughly, then gripped his face so his full cheeks squished dramatically. He blinkly rapidly as she shook his head, "Nooooo. No. No. No. Say you're just having fun!"

"But-"

"You are not domesticating."

"I'm definitely den-"

Judy switched from gripping his face to grabbing his shirt. She twisted one hand in his blue stained tank, and stabbed the other into his wide eyed face, as she snapped, "No, you are not. You are not domesticating. You are not allowed to domesticate. I don't want you to."

"What?" Nick asked, his face falling and his ears dropping. All the color ran away from his cheeks, leaving him pale and shaken, his eyes jumping from one inch of her face to the next.

"You are not allowed to domesticate."

When she spoke, her voice shook violently; a strangled sound that was both shrill and quiet with terror. The hysterical fear in Judy was obvious. She could feel it. She could feel it penetrating her every minute action and expression. What she didn't expect was to feel it in Nick's face when he looked her over and heard what she said. Yet, that's exactly what happened. All at once, Nick's collected, calm exterior shattered into a fragile stare where his eyes widened, he gritted his teeth, and he jerked away from her as if she'd struck him across the face. He touched his stomach, touched his chest, then covered his face with both hands. The slightest tremor went over his shoulders as his tail protectively wrapped around his hips.

When he spoke, his voice didn't shake. It was still and strained with rage as he snarled, "Get out of the car so I can get out. _Now._ " 

"What? Nick, I don't understand."

"No. You don't. Now move."

"Nick, I'm not saying you can't domesticate later," Judy said, carefully, "I'm just not ready for it now."

"I don't want to listen to this crap," Nick snapped as he jerked his hands down. They clenched into tight fists. He stared down at her with furious eyes, "Now, get out of my way or I'll knock you out of this car. Move."

"Nick, can't we talk about this?"

"There's nothing to talk about."

"I'm not ready to get married! I'm not ready for kids! I thought you knew that!" Judy protested loudly.

Nick pushed a finger into her chest as he barked, "You let me move in a _year_ ago! You didn't have a problem with it then, so I don't see why you do now!"

"This has nothing to do-"

"You don't get to let me move in, into your life and then decide you don't like it!"

"I didn't let you move in! You moved in!" Judy corrected, running a hand over her thigh. Her heart pulsed in her throat as she struggled to breathe, "Why are you bringing that up? I don't care that you live-"

"You sure seem to!"

"No, I don't!"

Nick grabbed his head, digging his fingers into his fur, "Do you even grasp what you're saying to me or do you just not care?!"

"I'm not ready for this!"

"You let me move in!" Nick shouted, slamming his fist down onto the arm rest. Judy jumped at the sound, "You let me move in and you got me a bigger fridge and you let me redecorate! You let me den!"

"I didn't let you do anything!"

"You didn't _stop_ me!"

Judy stammered for an answer, her mind reeling, before she just yelled, "We can live together but that's it!"

"I'm not living in your apartment like some trophy fox!" Nick screamed down at her, his pupils slightly dilated in a ferocious manner that she'd only been faced with once before. Her body went numb as his snout curled up to reveal his sharp canine teeth dripping with saliva, "I'm not your plaything, dammit! I'm your boyfriend! We've been together for a year!"

"I don't want to get married right now!"

"I don't care, Judy! We're not talking about that! We're talking about you denying me the right to den in our apartment!" Nick shook from head to toe as Judy swallowed, "Why?! Why can't I den?!" 

"I don't want you to domesticate!"

"You say that one more time, Judy, and we're through!"

The weight of Nick's words crushed Judy's heart into a bloody mess. She spat up in her mouth slightly as her body lost all sense of reality. The squad car vanished. It was replaced by the vicious pain in Nick's devastated eyes. He looked down at her with his teeth bared like a horribly enraged predator about to rip it's prey open from the chest cavity to the stomach. But, his eyes. They were wide, horrified and agonized, filling quickly with tears that he wouldn't shed. He trembled from the effort not to break down into sobs, even as he took in a shaky, angry breath. Judy was lost in those eyes, in those emotions, her body suspended somewhere in time.

Then, she blinked slowly, and her vision was erased by the evening Nick was introduced to her parents as her boyfriend. Her mother's smile swam to the surface, along with her definition of domesticating. The suggested idea of a tamer, nicer, sweeter, hungrier, fatter Nick blurred into the violently upset fox beside her.

Judy fought through the nearly debilitating horror of losing Nick to whisper, "I don't want you to change."

"I'm not going to change, for crying out loud! I'm going to get a little fat, that's all!" he answered, grabbing the sides of his belly and squeezing it, "You like how fat I'm getting, so why is this a problem all of a sudden?!"

"I don't want you to change, Nick! I don't! I don't want you to to to-" she struggled to find the words and stammered around while staring at his waist as his fingers sank in. She spat out, "I don't want you to get nice!"

Nick's fury deflated slightly as he asked, "What?"

"I don't want you to get nice! Or tame! Or anything else that comes with domesticating!" she said, grabbing the front of his overly tight tank, "I don't care how fat you get, Nick, but you can't get nice. You can't change. I love you and you're not allowed to change just because we're getting married. It's not fair!"

"Wait, Judy, I'm not-"

"I don't know why you're so angry at me, but I'm not letting you become some prey-like predator just because it's in your biology!"

Nick gently touched Judy's hands as they shook, all of his fury disappearing as if stripped from him by a powerful force. His ears tilted backwards as he said, "Judy, I'm not changing. I'm denning. It'll be over soon."

"No. No. No. I'm not letting you domesticate," Judy said, as her voice shattered and the tears burst forth. She shuddered and sobbed, "I won't lose you."

"Why are you crying like this?"

"Because you're g-g-going to turn into some meek little prey and it'll be all my fault and you're such an amazing animal."

"Why do you think- I'm not turning into some meek anything."

"You said you're domesticating, right?" Judy asked, covering her eyes with one hand as the burning tears dripped from her chin.

"Yeah."

"Well, isn't that what happens when predators domesticate?" she choked out in between frantic sobs; her shoulders heaving and her breath catching every so often in the back of her throat. She gripped his shirt, "They get tame?"

"What? No. Oh, God, no, no, no."

As he said it, all the remaining touches of angry pain disappeared from Nick. He cautiously pried Judy's hands off his shirt and moved close enough that his large belly pressed into her side. He held her suddenly and safely, her head tucked against his chest, against his steady heart beat. Her body melded over the arch to his waist, so that she hugged him inadvertently. His hands rubbed over her back and her head, caressing her ears and her shoulders the way she kneaded his. Even his tail wrapped loosely about her hips, about her own tail, when he held her to him.

Judy was swallowed up by his incredible warmth while he petted her and whispered into her ear, "Denning has nothing to do with any of that, Carrots."

"W-What?"

"Foxes don't den because they're getting tame. We den because we found our home," Nick cooed, cupping her face and kissing her lightly between the eyes. Her eyes widened as she gripped his belly. He chuckled, "I'm denning because I found my home."

"Oh, Nick. Really?"

"Yeah," he shrugged one shoulder, "I guess I love you or something."

"I love you too," she said, wiping her eye. She swallowed hard and asked, "So, you're not going to get. . . . nice or anything?"

"Hell no. I'm not capable of being nice."

"I'm being serious."

"Me too. Urgh. Nice. I'm sick just thinking about it," Nick made a face as he shuddered. She lightly laughed and he rubbed her shoulders, "I don't know what you think denning is, but it doesn't have anything to do with personality. I'm not going to change. Well, I'm going to get lazy, sleepy, and probably pretty fat, but not nice."

Judy's nose twitched and she repeated, "'Pretty fat'?"

"Oh, foxes eat when we're denning. It's part of the process."

"Why?"

"Don't know. Just is," he casually said, before he patted the side of his belly, "I've been gaining weight for a year, denning. I've finally gotten settled, so I'm going to reach my peak weight, sleep, and then move on with my life."

"Move on?"

"You know, return to normal and stop eating like a pig."

"But you've always eaten like a pig."

Nick stopped smiling as he gave her a deadpan stare. She cocked half a smile, which he pointed at and said, "Keep saying stuff like that and I won't stop."

"Who said you had to?"

"Ohhhhh, is this some sort of kinky confession?"

"No. I just don't mind if you let yourself go," Judy calmly said, rubbing Nick's full cheek. He smiled and the tip of his tail flicked from side to side. She smoothed her thumb underneath his eye, "You swear nothing else is going to change?"

"I swear."

"And. And. And this has nothing to do with getting married or wanting kids?"

"Nope. Just how us foxes make ourselves at home."

With that, Nick leaned a touch closer and kissed her on the mouth. There was a moment where she was caught off guard; still lost in what he had said versus what she had experienced. Then, the panic and the smiles were smothered in the taste of warm blueberry. Judy kissed back; hers hard and desperate whereas his had been gentle and cautious. As soon as she returned the embrace, Nick cupped her face. His claws ran painlessly over her fur. His mouth hungrily devoured her embrace, drinking up her tiny bunny noises and swallowing her little gasps. His hands held her in place as he ate up every pleasurable sound that came from deep within her body. She let him kiss her as if he were consuming her, because the sensation of being eaten from the mouth down to her heart was an intoxicating cocktail she couldn't stop sipping. Whenever she feared he might stop, she let out another sound and she felt his mouth moving over hers to gobble it up like he did everything else.

After several long minutes, however, Judy was breathless and out of sounds. Nick kissed her in silence for a second, then eased his scorching mouth from her trembling lips. Judy blinked slowly, her mind a blurred mess of blueberry heat and foxiness. Her vision spun around Nick's plump face as he peered down at her. Green and red smeared around the bright blue and hyper white of his belly, of his shirt, until her eyes were able to focus on his bemused expression.

"You bunnies are so emotional," Nick teased as he let go of her face.

"You're pretty emotional yourself."

He slightly shrugged, "Whatever you say, Carrots."

"That's right. Whatever I say," Judy joked, expecting him to make some kind of sarcastic comment. Instead, Nick yawned loudly, his eyes halfway closing. His tail curled from around her and flicked from side to side. Judy tilted her head, "Are you. . . Are you going to sleep?"

"Mmmmm. Dramas over. I'm exhausted again," Nick paused to yawn loud and hard enough that his whole body shook. His belly slightly jiggled and he rubbed the side of it, saying, "Part of the whole denning thing."

"Well, you were about to grab some shut eye."

"Mmm-hmmm."

"That sure was fast."

"Can't help it."

"No, I understand. It's okay," she reached over and rubbed his cheeks. His eyes closed and his ears tilted back. She eased him backwards so that he was resting against the armrest, his arm bent over it. He yawned as she continued, "You get some sleep, Nicky. I'm going to go ask a couple of questions."

"Sorry, Carrots."

"It's okay. It's kinda cute."

"Don't encourage me. I'll just keep getting lazier."

Judy snickered, "You can get as lazy as you want."

"I'll get fat." 

"You are fat," Judy teased as she ran a finger over the edge of one of his fluffy ears. Nick mumbled something as the tip of his tail flicked side to side and his body relaxed into soft putty underneath her touch. Judy stroked his ears and whispered into them, "You can get as fat as you want. I like it."

"I knew it."

"Shut up and go to sleep, you stupid fox."

Nick closed his eyes as Judy pushed his head down to rest on his arm. He snuggled into the armrest, his cheek squished into the nook of his arm and his free hand rubbing the side of his swollen belly. Judy caressed one of his large ears, then the other, while he moaned deep in his throat. She smoothed her fingers down his forehead, over his eyes, over his full cheeks, over his neck, and to his shoulders. She kneaded his shoulders, then his upper back, and finally she gently rubbed the sides of his belly. Every inch that she touched made Nick relax another inch more, so that when she was done, he was slumped over with a drunken smile on his face.

She kissed his cheek before she eased herself over to the edge of the car seat. Nick tensed a touch, but she rubbed his thick thigh, and he relaxed again. Then, slowly, Judy pushed open the passenger door. Nick's ears tilted to the noise, which caused one of his eyes to just barely open. Judy stretched her hand back and rubbed the fingertips over the bulge to his waistline. She flexed her fingers, pseudo caressing it, while Nick watched. Then, she let her fingertips drift away.

"Be good and I'll get you a cupcake, remember?"

Judy meant to be funny, to get a snarky comment. Instead, a slow, tired smile appeared on Nick's face and his tail flicked to one side before curling up around his belly. Judy stared at him, bloated, swollen, round, and tired, smiling at her as if he couldn't see anything but her. She fidgeted, her nose twitched, and she could only smile back. His tail flicked to the other side and his eye finally closed. He settled in to sleep while Judy eased the door shut on the squad car and her boyfriend's belly.

Then, she turned to the Big Pig bakery and reentered the real world, where she was a police officer and she had a case to solve. She left Nick in their denning dream. He deserved the fox nap. And she needed to recover from the way her heart skipped every other beat whenever his tail twitched with lazy joy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really sorry about the long delay in posting this chapter. Life got in the way. I appreciate all the feedback and love this story has gotten.


	9. Big Pigs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Judy heads into the Big Pig bakery for routine questioning, but gets more than she bargained for.

The inside of the Big Pig Bakery smelled like a spun sugar and tempered chocolate. Everything was a soft pink, with traces of white popping out every now and then as a delicious buttercreme accent color. The displays in the windows, of the various styles of wedding cakes, were just the beginnings of a long walk through a dessert dreamworld. On the right, there were towers of cakes of every kind, layered up thick with frosting and heavy with decorations. On the left, there were boxes of cookies, bags of scones, and displays for highly stylized cupcakes. There was a table set up in the center of the floor with the day's special, half off confections treat, which happened to be double chocolate fudge with walnuts. All the containers were topped with circular bows with a heart shaped button with the store's logo plopped in the center.

Everywhere Judy looked was covered in enormous displays of overly decorated sweets waiting for the right waistline to come along and snatch them up. She saw bon bons, macroons, petite fours, muffins, deep fried cheesecake, an assortment of mini pies, a display case of full sized pies, and even some napoleons with little tags stuck in them to identify their thirteen different flavors. She saw marble cake, carrot cake, strawberry creme cake, black forest cake, and flavors she'd never even heard of before. There was even a pretty display for a green cake whose name she couldn't pronounce, which had a small description that identified it as a popular European cake that was famous in Japanese fox communities.

Judy's nose twitched in that direction, before she shook her head, and looked around for any shop keeps. There was a small selection of patrons mulling about, looking at the treats and trying to decide what to get. A large majority of them were vastly overweight pigs and boars who were reading the description cards to displays of the days petite fours. However, she spotted two couples by the wedding cakes, flipping through a booklet. Her heart jumped into her throat and she swallowed it down as she reached the glass display case styled counter in the back of the shop.

The color drained out of Judy's face as she lifted her head back, back, back, back in order to look up at the monstrously obese pig behind the counter. She was used to looking up at large mammals, like, say Mister Jumbeaux. She was used to being the size of an animal's knee, and having to deal with them leaning forward to see past their own girth to see her bunny ears. However, those animals were typically elephants, rhinos, polar bears, and other creatures that towered over even Chief Bogo. They were not pigs. They were not four to five foot pigs who weighed between two and four hundred pounds. They were not creatures the height of Nick and the weight of Clawhauser. They were big, but they weren't just big pigs.

Yet, went Judy found the counter, she found out one reason the shop was probably called 'Big Pig'. Standing behind the glass, wearing a bright pink polo shirt and white slacks, was a massive male pig. His stomach stretched out nine feet wide and rolled forward about just as much in front of the love handles stacked up on his sides. His stomach rested on the countertop, a squished layer of fat, even though he was standing much further back. His face was buried in fat, so that his eyes were half opened, and his cheeks dimpled heavily around his deep frowning expression. The front of his shirt strained around the enormous weight of his stomach, but his pants had the same deep lines from his ten foot wide hips. He towered up and out and around and in every direction in huge globs of fatty weight that piled up on his multiple chins, his dimpled elbows, his tree trunk sized thighs, his bulging arms, and his large chest. When he leaned an inch forward, every bit of him shifted and moved, his lightly pink skin flushed with sweat and rosy from exhaustion.

The pig wiped his forehead, his sunflower yellow hair streaked over it. He sighed, and pulled a pit stained pad of paper out of his breast pocket. A ripple went over his arms, his breasts, his chins, his belly, as he tapped the pen to the paper and gruffly panted out, "What you want, Mizz Bunny Rabbit?"

"Um," Judy swallowed several times, her mouth wet and her throat dry. She coughed and shakily pulled her own pad of paper from her pocket. Nervously, she said, "Um, I. I. I. I'm Officer Judy Hopps, ZPD. I'm here. To talk to the owner of this shop. Would that be you, sir?"

"Nah. That my ma. She in back," he choked out, his voice sounding wet and thick like syrup. He turned a fraction of an inch. The glass counter groaned and the floor boards moaned and Judy saw several of the patrons steady the displays.

When the pig took one step, the entire shop jiggled along with the stacks of rolls at his waist. Judy bounced slightly, her heart jolting from the sudden displacement. She hadn't moved when she was in front of Jumbeaux, but she did when the pig turned to lean a bit over. Her body flushed and her pen quivered on the paper, while he shouted for his mother to come to the front. He turned back and took another store shaking step back into place. The glass screamed underneath his immense girth.

From the back of the store came another pig. She was the typical height for a pig, though her hips were massively wider than normal and stretched out her bright pink apron. Her blond hair was curled on her head, reminiscent of the fifties-vintage style that Judy had seen a lot of females wearing at work recently. The pig saw Judy and her bright blue eyes lit up considerably.

"Oh, goodieness, would y'all be Officer Hopps?" she asked, wiping her hands on her apron and smearing it with blue buttercream frosting.

"Um, yes, ho-"

"Oh, myyyyy, aren't y'all just the darnest lil thang?!" she squealed, outright squealed, as she opened up a flip panel in the glass counter. She wiggled her way through, her fat hips squishing immensely, while Judy stood frozen, "I'm Sue Hoover! I got a call you an' your pretty lil hubby would be comin' in to talk weddin' cake!"

Judy's ears dropped down and she gripped her pen tightly, "Oh, you did, did you?"

"Oh, yes, but. But, where's your hubby?"

"He's not feeling very well. So, um, it's just me."

Sue laughed and snorted, smacking Judy on the shoulder, "Men. They're always 'sick' at these things, ain't they? Soooo, tell me what you were thinkin'. When's the weddin'?"

"Um. I'm not he-"

"I hear ya. Don't know, don't care. I was the same way. Just picked a date one day outta tha blue. It'll come ta ya. Just make sure it's a date he can remember!" Sue joked, snorting again, as she steered Judy over to a display rack of wedding cakes.

"Oh, no, ma'am. I'm not here to talk about-"

"Now, the gent on the phone, uh, nice boy, named um-"

"Benjamin Clawhauser," Judy spat out.

Sue snapped her fingers, "That's right. I take it he's the best man."

"More like the maid of honor."

"Gay best friend. I get it. I love it! Non traditional. Now, Ben said that the hubby was a fox," Sue said as she stopped them forcibly in front of a display of gorgeous, ten layered and up, traditional wedding cakes. There was a booklet for flavor combinations in front of them, which Sue quickly opened up to a variety of fruit fillings, "An' foxes, they love berries."

"Tell me about it."

"Hee hee, sounds like I done hit the nail on the head. Your boy, he likes fruit, don't he?"

Judy fidgeted with her pen, her nose twitching, before she sighed and said, "He loves blueberries. They're practically all he eats."

"Does he likes sweets at all?"

"Oh, boy, does he," Judy offhandedly smiled, her mind drifting back to the food graveyard Nick was currently sleeping over. Sue snorted and put one hand on her massively round hip.

"Does he have a name, sweetiepie?"

"Oh, it's Nick. His name is Nick," Judy said hurriedly.

"Looks like Nick is quite the catch."

"Oh, yeah. He really is. He's sweet and kind and funny and-" Judy stopped talking as she looked around her. For a moment, she was surprised to see herself standing in a sugar pink store, beside an animal she had never met before. Sue smiled at her, knowingly and proud, her eyes half lidded. Judy blinked and forced her face into a very serious expression, "But I didn't come here to talk about him."

"Oh, no, dearie. You came to talk about cake!" Sue replied, as she pointed to a white chocolate cake with crushed blueberries mixed in, topped with buttercream frosting, "What do y'all think?"

"Oh my goodness, Nick would love that."

"I thought so. We also have this one," Sue turned a couple of pages and showed her a display for a blueberry flavored cake with vanilla buttercream frosting. She turned half a page, to show off crushed blueberry filling, "Now, since y'all said he loves blueberries, with this one, I'd say get the fillin' to go in between the layers, see, so he can still bite into 'em."

"Yeah, yeah. I see. That's. . ." Judy pocketed her notebook as she took the booklet from Sue. She turned back to the white chocolate cake, then back a few pages. She spotted a dark chocolate cake with crushed strawberries layered in between them and topped with chocolate moose frosting. She tapped it, "Could we do blueberries in this one or is it just strawberries?"

"Oh, nooo, sweetiepie! I can put blueberries in whatever y'all like!"

"What about a cake topped with blueberries?"

"I can do that. Crushed or whole, no problem. Oh!" Sue snapped her fingers and nodded, while slowly saying, "I can do candied blueberries too."

"What's a candied blueberry?"

"Oh, it's just a fresh blueberry coated in in melted sugah."

"Nick would love those."

"Well, I can top every layah to ya cake with 'em," Sue turned a page in the book, reaching over Judy. She stopped on a white vanilla cake topped with crushed blueberry buttercream frosting. She tapped the picture, "How 'bout that topped with candied blueberries?"

"Oooooh," Judy's foot thumped slightly as she flipped half of the page back to the fruit filling, "Could we maybe add the crushed blueberries in between the layers?"

"'Course we can!"

"But, maybe not vanilla cake. . ."

"What 'bout that white chocolate from the first picture?"

Judy's ears popped up, "That could work. . . . White chocolate cake. Crushed blueberry filling. Blueberry buttercream frosting. And topped with candied blueberries. Nick would just love that. He'd probably eat the whole thing."

Sue snorted, "I'll make ya a second one an' keep it hidden til your boy passes out."

"Hmmmm, yeah. . ."

"How big a weddin' it gonna be?"

"I have a over four hundred relatives. Two hundred and seventy five are just my siblings," Judy absentmindedly said, rolling her eyes. Sue perked up a little bit as she pulled a pad of paper from her apron front pocket. Judy continued, "I don't know how many others would come. Probably the whole police force. And the Big family. And the Ottertons. And Finnick, but he's just one fox. He's the best man."

"Friend of the groom?"

"Yeah. Best friend, I think," Judy squinted at the description of a fruity whipped cream as she mumbled, "They lived together for a while or something. I don't really know, but Finnick's the closest thing Nick has to family, I think."

"It's sweet that he'd be the best man."

"Yeah," she scrunched up her nose, "He'll probably bring a date. And then there's Flash. He'll bring Priscilla. . . . And there's Gideon and Travis, too. They have a couple of kits. I think five."

"So, it's safe to say, it'll be 'bout five hundred animals?"

"Yeah. Probably five fifty," Judy shrugged, "Maybe six hundred."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Judy saw a frightful image of her standing at the altar, wearing a pearl white gown and holding a bouquet of bright blue flowers. She was surrounded by the smiling faces of every animal she had grown up with, all of them towering over her with their expectant mother smiles and fearful dad grimaces. Then, she looked around and saw Nick standing in front of her, dressed in a black suit, his bright blueberry tie halfway undone, his belly stretching out the buttons of the front. He smiled at her but it wasn't his normally snarky, slick-nick grin. It was twisted and hungry and violent, with saliva dripping canine teeth snarling at her stomach. She screamed in her mind, trying to drop the bouquet, and finding herself attached to it. Her alter was replaced with an enormous crib with a screaming, shrieking baby behind the prison bars.

Judy shook her head. The terribly hyper active colors of her nightmare were replaced by the soft pinks and creamy whites of the store. Sue was writing something on her pad and Judy was looking down at various cake dimensions. Her hands shivered and she stepped away from the booklet.

"I didn't come in here to pick out cake flavors."

"No, honeypie, ya came in here ta see what we got. We just got lucky, pickin' them flavors," Sue said happily, "You keep this pace up an' you'll be married in no time!"

"No. No. No. I didn't come to talk about- you think so?"

"Oh, yeah. A year, maybe."

"Ha. A year," Judy strangled down a cry as she swallowed hard. She shook her head again and took out her notebook, "But, um, Mrs. Hoover, I actually came here to ask you a couple of questions regarding a string of break-ins and robberies in the area."

Sue froze in place, her eyes wide and her cheeks pale. She looked over at Judy with the same shocked expression in place, as if she couldn't comprehend what was being said. She blinked rapidly, then smiled sheepishly, and said, "What? What do y'all mean? I thought y'all was a customer. Ben said-"

"Clawhauser must of, uh, thought we could cake shop afterwards," Judy lied, flinching a touch.

At that, Sue blinked and smiled happily, "Oh, goodieness. I thought you were gonna tell me y'all wouldn't be usin' me for ya weddin'."

"What? Oh, we haven't decided anything about the wedding yet," Judy rushed to say, although every word brought a touch of devastation to Sue's round face. Judy hurriedly assured her, "But I love what I've seen so far, Mrs. Hoover. I'd love to to to-"

"To buy some samples to take to your boy for taste testing?"

"Um, yes. Yes!" Judy pointed up at Sue, "To buy, um, to buy some samples to take to Nick for taste testing. He loves taste testing stuff. And I said I'd get him something anyways, so, yup. I'd love to buy some samples for Nick to taste test."

"Goodie! I'll whip together all the things we were talkin' 'bout! It shouldn't take but ten minutes!"

"That sounds good, but can I-"

"'Course y'all can keep lookin'! If ya see anythin' in the booklet ya like, just tell Wilbert an' he'll lemme know," Sue gestured over to the glass countertop where the massive pig was wiping his forehead as he wrote down a zebra's order. Judy nodded hesitantly while Sue smiled, "Wilbert's my son. I force him an' his lil brothah to work here. Helps build character."

"Yup. Sure. Sure does. It sure does build something," Judy mumbled, trying not to stare at the massive rolls that piled up on Wilbert's backside as he strained to see what picture the zebra was pointing to. However, she stared a touch too long and caught Sue watching her size up her son. Judy cleared her throat, "I mean-"

"Ha. You think he's fat, you should see my husband!" Sue joked, nudging Judy in the side with a loud snort. Judy forced out a chuckle while Sue pocketed her pad of paper, "All Wilbert does is eat an' take orders. My lil one, Runt, he runs all the deliveries."

"Is that right?"

"Mmm-hmm. We're just a simple family owned business." 

"Yeah. Um, can I ask you a couple of questions?" Judy interrupted, "Before you get started on my order?"

Sue blinked, her eyes wide, then she smiled sweetly, "Sure, honeypie."

"There have been a couple of break-ins in the nearby areas, to bakeries and other sweet selling shops," Judy began, only to be stopped by Sue gasping loudly and covering her mouth.

"Do y'all think I'm next?!"

"No, no, no, no."

"I heard 'bout those attacks. The owners got attacked, didn't they?"

"Yes, but, ma'am, your shop doesn't fit the description," Judy assured her, motioning to the walls, "It's not the kind of location profile. I'm just here to ask if you've seen any strange or suspicious activity lately, since you're in the area."

"Oh. Oh, goodieness. Oh," Sue placed a hand over her heart, before she started to shake her head. Halfway into the shake, however, she paused, and narrowed her eyes. Judy's ears shot up as Sue started to nod. She cautiously said, "Well, a week or so ago, I saw this old van parked outside, for a couple hours. I saw it a couple of times in the area, drivin' slow an parkin' outside shops for a long time. I thought it was a lil bit strange, but then it stopped. 'Round the time that last shop got attacked."

Judy felt her heart slowly drop into her stomach as she raised her eyes up to Sue. Sheepishly, Judy halfway smiled and shyly asked, "Was it a. . . red van?"

"Hmmm-mmm. With a-"

"Mural on the side of two foxes?"

"Now that you say it, it was. It sure was," Sue snapped her fingers, "And it was-"

"Missing the driver's side door?"

"Yup! It had a cheap blue replacement door. That's the one."

Judy bitterly laughed as she pocketed her pen, muttering, "You don't say."

Twenty minutes later, Judy swiped her MammalCard on a purchase of seventy-two dollars and thirteen cents. She stared at the numbers as they were quickly replaced with an 'approved' message. Slowly, she exhaled a deep intake of breath, and smiled up at where Sue was placing four boxes into a giant pink 'Big Pig's Bakery' tote bag. Sue was talking. She hadn't stopped talking since she had walked out of the back room with the completed order; eleven minutes ago. She was talking about what every married woman talked about to the newly engaged; what went wrong at her wedding. It was sage advice on the perils of not getting extra catered food. Yet, Judy only heard every third word. She was staring at the four boxes in a mixture of guilt, excitement, and unease. 

Sue had wound up convincing Judy to buy two sets of cake samples, of the various combinations they had talked about. One was for Nick, because Judy had promised to get him a cupcake and she had figured multiple slices of cake would make up for her delay. The other was for Judy's bridal party, which somehow got decided as Clawhauser and Finnick, so they could offer real suggestions. Judy had been hard-pressed to say yes. She sensed that Sue needed the sale and, as Sue carefully and delicately put it, Nick was going to be absolutely useless at helping pick a cake flavor. They would all be 'good' and not 'the one'. So, the addition of the maid of honor and best man would offer options. Sue emphasized the importance of options. Options were the best thing in a wedding. Options, right up until due date, because then it was better to have dead set rules.

And so, while Sue lectured on options and extra catering platters, Judy had been talked and walked into buying two full cake sample platters. They weren't too expensive, except that they were very customized. Customization was extra. Every blueberry was extra. Everything that would make Nick giddy with gluttony was extra. The numbers had racked up as Judy stood at the counter, too terrified to say anything.

Besides, the order was already complete by the time Judy found out the cost.

Sue handed Judy the tote bag, saying, "So, don't skimp on the tips, honeypie, 'kay? Y'all never know who y'all need to get your drunk hubby up to the room."

"I'll keep that in mind, Mrs. Hoover," Judy said, wrapping her fingers tightly on the bag strap.

"Next time, bring in your boy!"

"I. I will. But he'd probably never leave."

"Oh, that's fine with me! I need all the help I can get!" Sue laughed, smacking the countertop. She snorted loudly, "I can't wait to see y'all again."

Judy forced a smile, "Me too. Um, thank you again, so much, Mrs. Hoover."

"Any time, sweetiepie."

"Hmm. G'night," Judy waved stiffly, before she turned and started to stomp out of there with her over priced goodie bag. When she spotted the squad car, though, she paused, and turned slightly around. She hesitantly asked, "Um, Mrs. Hoover? What night do you do inventory?"

"Thursday. Why?"

"No reason. Have a nice day, ma'am."

Judy pushed the door to the shop open with her shoulder. The street was busy with animal couples hunting for the perfect wedding white gear to complete their blissful life. She ignored the gowns with tulle skirts and the suits with pinstripes and the violet arrangements. She bolted for the squad car, her eyes straight on the handle and not focusing on the animals that had to jerk around her tiny form. In a second, she had the door to the car opened, her butt on the seat, and the door shut.

"Sorry that took so long!" Judy said as she handed the bag to the empty seat next to her. She blinked, her nose twitching, when she saw that Nick was gone. She jerked to look in the back, to see if he was pranking her, but it was empty as well. She felt the semi warm seat, "Wait. Where'd he go?"

She searched the surrounding area, her eyes hunting for anything orange. They found strange animals walking around. They found flower shops and bridal boutiques. They found catering companies and tuxedo rental shops. They found a beaten up, ratty red van with a mural of two foxes and a cheap blue replacement door, parked half a block away in front of an exotic florists, with it's back doors open. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, darlings. Sorry it's taking so long in between chapters. Work has not been fun, what with the holidays around the corner. I hope you guys are doing well and enjoy this new chapter.


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